Meeting with approval
A recent leather goods collection from Danish leather suppliers Sørensen Leather has taken leather traceability and animal welfare one stage further, having been endorsed by Animal Protection Denmark. The collection, “Vita”, takes its name from the Latin derivation for life, and claims to be the only leather collection in the industry to carry such endorsement.
The subject of animal welfare and its association to the leather industry has been widely reported by World Leather over the years. Any tanner will tell you of the paramount importance that animal welfare plays in the quality of the hide. Animal stress is a key factor in leather quality issues, where the negative impacts of stress have a bearing, such as prominent veins present in the resultant leather, not to mention other damage that can occur to the hide if the animal is in a distressed state at the abattoir. With this message being broadcast and the visible work being done by the supply chain, taking it one stage further back seems to have been fundamental to Sørensen Leather. “Over the past few years, we have been receiving a lot of requests to offer traceability on our collections, but we believe that traceability for itself, doesn’t focus on a very important aspect, namely animal welfare.
“We wanted to offer a collection that could be traced back to the farmer, while at the same time, having a high focus on animal welfare. Which is why we reached out to Animal Protection Denmark, to figure out which requirements our hides should live up to.” Louise V. Sørensen, CEO & Partner at Sørensen Leather told World Leather.
Origins count
Scandinavian hides have always had a connotation of good quality. The husbandry methods and climate lend themselves to produce a premium product, and the company has reinforced this by working in close partnership with suppliers that guarantee hides of 100% Danish origin.
A unique component to the partnership can be found in the farms where the cattle are bred. Working with Himmerlandskod, Denmark’s second largest beef producer, the hides for this collection come exclusively from animals bred and raised for their Nordjysk Naturkød (North Jutland Natural meat) project. The cattle are of selected breeds that provide healthy, robust, and placid animals that thrive on the free life. Left out to pasture for almost six months, of which a minimum of ninety days is on approved natural grazing areas, consisting mainly of meadows, salt marshes, grasslands, heaths and bogs, the cattle form an extensive regenerative farming practice in the Jutland peninsula.
Mainly grazing the natural areas in the summer, the objective of Nordjysk Naturkød is to preserve and protect the natural areas and landscapes in North Jutland, which are otherwise threatened by overgrowth. Through grazing, the open and bright landscape is preserved alongside the biological diversity that it creates.
All farmers affiliated with Nordjysk Naturkød are approved by Animal Protection Denmark, proof that Himmerlandskod takes animal husbandry extremely seriously. Looking to maximise on quality rather than quantity, livestock are never subjected to long distance transport, with the animals being slaughtered and processed in the Himmerland region, where a limited number of farms and cattle form part of the partnership. The exclusive nature of the project means that only forty-seven farmers are involved.
Animal Protection Denmark
To ensure that the animals are raised under ethical conditions, whereby animal welfare and respect for the animals is of utmost importance, where the cattle are healthy, live a good and respectful life, all farmers in the collaboration are approved by Animal Protection Denmark. Established in 1875, Animal Protection Denmark operates at a national and international level, engaging in animal welfare projects with the aim of being the most influential organisation in the sector, and, through international cooperation, create tangible results for animal welfare in line with their vision of ensuring a genuinely sustainable relationship between animals, humans, and nature.
To qualify, farms undergo annual audits and are subjected to both announced and unannounced visits by the scheme’s auditors, guaranteeing their continuous compliance with the strict guidelines defined by the label. Some of their requirements are to keep animals free to range on pasture during the summer and keeping them in a loose housing system where they can move around freely when indoors and providing, as a minimum, enough space for the cows to stand up and lie down in a natural manner. The scheme also sets out specific requirements for the bedding used and that the animals have access to good quality feed, free access to drinking water at all times and that farmers perform daily inspections to make sure they are not injured or appear stressed.
With such close quarter working, traceability of products is also ensured as the animals are registered, tagged and identifiable. For Sørensen Leather, the two go hand in hand, where each element has equal importance. “On top of the traceability, we have secured and verified the animal welfare. To us traceability alone, is not equal to animal welfare.”
A life well lived
The chrome free, full grained leather has the most minimalistic aniline finish, allowing the true character to show through, offering a fingerprint to the unique identity that each animal had in life. Utilising the unique information that is recorded for each animal, by way of an ear tag assigned to the calves shortly after birth, a corresponding number is laser engraved onto each hide with information kept on a database. Customers can be assured that should they wish to, the exact details of the cow that produced the hide can be traced back to the farm.
With fewer than fifty farms involved in the project, a limited number of hides, approximately 100 per month, are used exclusively by Sørensen Leather for this collection. In a selection process that sees only certain hides taken for the aniline leather, natural markings such as growth lines and wrinkles and the acceptance of other “signs of life”, such as healed scars and insect bites. are celebrated and prove the authenticity that defines the collection. The remainder of the hides are used for other collections where surface finishing is a little more involved, and further adds to the Sørensen Leather zero waste policy where no hides are wasted.
The expansion of the project will ultimately depend on availability and customer demand but according to Sørensen Leather, the expansion of this range is very much on the cards, with thoughts of adding new colours but also to develop other collections along the same concept lines.
Sørensen Leather has an understandable appeal to architects and designers. The iconic Drop Chair is by Arne Jacobsen from Fritz Hansen. The sphere is a co-creation with Norm Architects of Copenhagen.
Credit: Jonas Bjerre-Poulsen
