French firm invests in calf skin operation
As part of a multi-year project to boost France’s leathergoods industry by increasing the quality of local raw material, calf processing company Sobeval has invested €4.8 million in a skin-treatment site.
A robotic system is being installed and is able to carefully fold the skins, report local press, using the byproduct of France’s veal industry, the largest in Europe.
"This expansion meets the needs of the giants of the luxury industry, like Hermes in Nontron," said CEO Gilles Gauthier, adding that the company expects to create 50 jobs in three years.
A public-private partnership established in 2012 the Dordonge region aims to improve leather by engaging farmers to look after the skins – for example, removing barbed wire fences and changing how they treat parasites – and investing in slaughterhouses.
