ISA introduce verified regenerative leather and hide supply chain
Producer of leather and additional materials ISA TanTec has announced a partnership with Other Half Processing (OHP) to develop and expand a regenerative hide and leather supply chain it has named “Raising Livestock, Regenerating Landscapes”.
Verified using the Generalized Regenerative Agriculture Sourcing Specification (GRASS) protocol, which aims to support regenerative farmers and ranchers in the US by creating a traceable regenerative leather supply chain, it marks the first commercially available US based regenerative cattlehide supply chain.
The protocol provides market partners the confidence needed to make regenerative product origins and claims, while allowing a greater scale of supply and diversity of sourcing options for verified regenerative hides beyond what any single regenerative certification system offers. It does this through use of an equivalency approach that identifies the key indicators and eligible inspection/certification approaches needed to verify regeneratively raised cattle grazing practices, systems and outcomes, including:
- Soil health, water cycling and retention
- Soil organic carbon sequestration
- Biodiversity protection and vegetative cover
- Animal health and welfare
- Farmer/Rancher livelihoods and profitability
Speaking of the partnership, ISA group vice-president for sustainable business development, Keith Hill, said: “With a commercially available regeneratively-raised cattlehide supply chain in place, we have the availability of “Raising Livestock, Regenerating Landscapes” verified hides for customers to design products with and enhance the overall traceability and accountability for their supply chain.”
Jim Kleinschmit, Co-Founder and CEO of Other Half Processing added: “Our goal with GRASS is to give companies trust that hides used for leather are sourced from cattle raised under verified regenerative grazing systems that are better for animals, producers, and planet.”
ISA has supported the development of the GRASS regenerative cattlehide supply chain over the last three years in partnership with Timberland and OHP, and also collaborates with Savory’s Land to Market and Holistic Management International in support of regenerative agriculture practices.
