PrimeAsia Vietnam Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province, Vietnam
PrimeAsia Vietnam, one of two
tanneries the leather manufacturing
group operates today, is in a strategic
part of the footwear-making world.
With some of those companies now
starting to increase the volume of
leather they want to use, expansion at
the tan
TOTY Archive1 - Oct/Nov 2019
PrimeAsia Vietnam Technical report
Fresh from completing an expansion project in March this year, PrimeAsia wants the capacity at its tannery in southern Vietnam to keep growing to meet the needs of its athletic and casual footwear customers.
TOTY Archive1 - Oct/Nov 2019
Country Commentary: Innovative companies can lead the way
Vietnam is likely to remain one of the
fastest-growing economies in Asia.
China’s transition to a buy-not-make
economy, with increasing labour costs,
has been tempting manufacturers across
the border for a number of years. If
Vietnam is to make its own tr
TOTY Archive1 - Oct/Nov 2019
Country Commentary: Complexities of the Chinese market
In the first part of our Country Commentary for China, World Leather June-July, we
analysed the impact on the country’s wider economy of its ongoing trade dispute with
the US. Part two examines more closely the impact of the current economic situation
on
TOTY Archive1 - Aug/Sept 2019
Jinan Luri Junda Leather, Technical report
Specialist cow split producer Junda Leather has found ways to keep valuable manufacturing jobs in the rural environment of Shuangquan in Shandong Province, while building strong ties with two of China’s leading universities for leather science and enginee
TOTY Archive1 - Aug/Sept 2019
Jinan Luri Junda Leather Shuangquan, Shandong, China
A specialist producer of cow split,
Junda Leather Company has forged a
reputation as a creative supplier that
footwear groups producing shoes and
boots for domestic and export markets
have come to count on.
TOTY Archive1 - Aug/Sept 2019
Country Commentary: What months of mistrust could mean
Trade tensions have been building up
between China and the US since the start
of 2018. A resolution appeared to be
within reach in the early part of this
year, but May and June 2019 have been
among the most turbulent months in the
dispute so far and most
TOTY Archive1 - Jun/July 2019
Peter Geng Double Face Company
After years of working for large
double-face leather manufacturing
companies in Hebei Province, Peter
Geng set up his own tannery in 2008.
Through hard work and deep
knowledge of the specialist raw
materials double-face requires, he has
now built up a str
TOTY Archive1 - Jun/July 2019
Peter Geng Double Face Company, Technical report
Hebei Province-based double-face leather producer Peter Geng is committed to sharing the benefits of its deep knowledge of the special raw materials required to make its products.
TOTY Archive1 - Jun/July 2019
2018 global winner in expansion mode
A year ago, Interhides Limited was on top of the world, having won the global award in the sixth
Tannery of the Year programme. Far from resting on its laurels, the Thai leather manufacturer has
invested in a new building, new machinery and a new idea for
TOTY Archive1 - Apr/May 2019
Country Commentary: Leather in a cold climate
Russia today has a relatively small
number of tanneries for such a large
country, with 20 leather manufacturers
in operation. However, demand from the
domestic market, owing to Russia’s large
population and savagely diverse climatic
and geographical condi
TOTY Archive1 - Dec/Jan 2018
TOTY - Russkaya Kozha: Technical report
How the biggest tannery in Russia came to look beyond the country’s borders and beyond footwear to find new markets at home and abroad.
TOTY Archive1 - Dec/Jan 2018
TOTY - Russkaya Kozha Ryazan, Russia
Russia’s biggest tannery has a history
spanning more than 100 years and, as it
expands its target markets beyond the
domestic arena and beyond footwear, is
investing heavily in new technology to
create a bright future.
TOTY Archive1 - Dec/Jan 2018
TOTY - Buyer’s View: Russkaya Kozha and Unichel
The Russian footwear group insists that it
will not compromise on the quality of its
shoes in the face of what it calls “unfair
competition from counterfeit products”.
Instead, it intends to put more emphasis
than ever on authenticity, which means
investi
TOTY Archive1 - Dec/Jan 2018
IHL’s commitment to partnership helps secure the big prize
Thai tanning group Interhides Public
Company Limited (IHL) is the global winner
of Tannery of the Year for 2018. This article
explains what it is about the company that
helped it stand out for the judging panel
and gives IHL’s reaction to the result.
TOTY Archive1 - Apr/May 2018
Sepiciler Torbali, Izmir, Turkey
Pioneering work over its 90-year history
and ongoing commitment to environmental
and social responsibility helped Turkish
tanning group Sepiciler become Tannery of
the Year for Europe in 2013. A series of
deeply significant developments since then,
with m
TOTY Archive1 - Feb/Mar 2018
Talented Turkey seeks a fair price for its leather
Country Commentary: Experts on the Turkish leather sector
argue that technicians and craftspeople
there have shown for years how able and
creative they can be in making highquality
leather and finished products.
This report suggests that if companies in
T
TOTY Archive1 - Feb/Mar 2018
Xingye Leather Technology, Anhai, Fujian Province, China
Twenty years on from its launch, Xingye Leather Technology has established itself as one of the leading leather manufacturers in China and it is now preparing to make its mark on the international market too.
TOTY Archive1 - Dec/Jan 2017
China’s role as a consumer of leather
With two Chinese tanneries taking part in the sixth programme of Tannery of the Year, we are keeping up the tradition of aligning our country commentaries with the tannery reports by dividing the China country commentary into two parts. In the first part,
TOTY Archive1 - Dec/Jan 2017
Tongtianxing Group, Quzhou, Zhejiang province, China
One of the largest producers of furniture leather in the world, Tongtianxing (TTX) is proud of its ability to keep coming up with new ideas to help its customers. But it also knows that working closely with chemical and machinery suppliers is of huge impo
TOTY Archive1 - Oct/Nov 2017
Country Commentary: China’s role as a producer of leather
With two Chinese tanneries taking part in the sixth programme of Tannery of the Year, we will keep up the tradition of aligning our country commentaries with the tannery reports by dividing the China country commentary into two parts. In this first part,
TOTY Archive1 - Oct/Nov 2017
GST AutoLeather, Mexico
Automotive leather supplier GST has had a presence in Mexico for almost 25 years and, for almost the last 15 years, has concentrated all its North American production at three different sites there. Together, these facilities constitute an efficient and e
TOTY Archive1 - Aug/Sept 2017
Country Commentary: A changing environment for footwear
There are plenty of challenges ahead for Mexico’s footwear industry, ranging from competition for leather from the automotive sector to a fluid environment across the border in the US, which can have an effect on everything from production costs to consum
TOTY Archive1 - Aug/Sept 2017
Buyer’s view: GST and Yisti
A?new foundation called Yisti?Society has found a way of putting to use scraps from GST Mexican cutting plants.
TOTY Archive1 - Aug/Sept 2017
Leather Industries of Uganda Jinja, Uganda
A decade ago, Leather Industries of Uganda faced a real threat of closure because of inadequate environmental management. After a complete overhaul and substantial investment in people and technology, the facility now serves as a landmark for the leather
TOTY Archive1 - June/July 2017
Country Commentary: Uganda’s tanning industry pushes ahead
Less than 20 years ago, practically all of Uganda’s hides and skins left the country in the raw state. Now nine tanneries are working hard to add value to this natural resource and are aiming to expand their operations in future and to be part of a thrivi
TOTY Archive1 - June/July 2017
Mississippi TanTec Leather Inc. Vicksburg, Mississippi, US
Drums started turning at the ISA TanTec facility in Vicksburg, Mississippi, at the start of 2015, making it the first tannery to commence production in the US in 25 years. Working from wet blue, it retans and finishes hides from prominent US cattle-produc
TOTY Archive1 - Apr/May 2017
Country Commentary US leather industry starts to grow back
Leather Industries of America is one of the
country’s oldest trade associations. It’s
smaller now than in the days before
globalisation, when millions of US hides
began to flow overseas, but its president,
John Wittenborn, says the companies that
remain a
TOTY Archive1 - Apr/May 2017
Country Commentary - Recipe for success
The president of the Thai Tanning Industry
Association, Pranee Kuruvelukorn, says
leather is like cooking, with each part of
the world having its preferred ingredients
and traditional ways of preparing things.
Thailand’s is a recipe for success, she says.
TOTY Archive1 - Feb/Mar 2017
TOTY: Interhides Public Company Limited
Two generations at Interhides Limited are
now working hand in hand to establish
strong partnerships with customers and
suppliers and to make this family-run
tannery, situated in one of Thailand’s
main leather manufacturing clusters, a
leader at home and i
TOTY Archive1 - Feb/Mar 2017
Buyer's View: Wolverine Leathers and Interhides Public Company Ltd
For a customer’s perspective of Tannery
of the Year finalist Interhides Public
Company Limited, we talk to the leather
division of footwear group Wolverine
Worldwide, a long-time partner, but one
with new ideas that it is working on
with the Thai leather
TOTY Archive1 - Feb/Mar 2017
TOTY: Andrew Muirhead & Son Glasgow, Scotland
Glasgow-based tanner Andrew Muirhead
has seen great changes in the leather
industry and to its local environment in
its 175-year history, but it faces the
future with confidence, buoyed by a
determination to continue improving,
innovating and walking the
TOTY Archive1 - Dec/Jan 2016
Regional Commentary - Stability in the face of uncertainty
One of a series of challenges to the
established world order in 2016 was the
result of a referendum in the United
Kingdom in June, which means the
country will leave the European Union
after almost 45 years. Six months on
from the vote, the leather indust
TOTY Archive1 - Dec/Jan 2016
A new approach
Tannery of the Year enters its sixth
programme with some important changes.
TOTY Archive1 - Dec/Jan 2016
Buyer’s View - The Palace of Westminster and Andrew Muirhead & Son
Customer relationships grow strong
when there are genuine benefits for both
the tanner and the organisation using
the finished leather. Andrew Muirhead’s
work with the UNESCO-heritage building
that houses the UK’s parliament is a case
in point.
TOTY Archive1 - Dec/Jan 2016
TOTY 2016: Innovation of the Year
For the third time, a component of the Tannery of the Year programme for 2016 was the
Innovation Award. As in previous editions of the competition all of the finalists have displayed
serious commitment to innovation. We chose two examples of this inventiv
TOTY Archive1 - Apr/May 2016
Tannery of the Year 2016: Results
Social projects helped clinch top prize for Couro do Norte: A family-run company from the far north of Brazil is building up a customer
base worldwide but is working hard to support deserving causes close to home.
This turned heads and won hearts at the 2
TOTY Archive1 - Apr/May 2016
Tannery of the Year: White Nile Tannery, Khartoum, Sudan
After making a name for himself in footwear production in other parts of Africa, Lebanese
entrepreneur Dr Mohamad Rifai received an invitation to open a business in Sudan too.
There was plenty of local leather to work with, but he was dissatisfied with th
TOTY Archive1 - Feb/Mar 2016
Tannery of the Year: China
The fifth programme of Tannery of the Year has yielded a candidate list of 10
excellent tanneries for China, two of which have been selected as finalists. We featured
the report from Meihua Leather Company in the previous issue of World Leather.
TOTY Archive1 - Dec/Jan 2015
Tannery of the Year: Meihua Leather Company, Xinji, Hebei province
A specialist in making double-face articles from sheepskins, Meihua Leather is a
leading light in the important tanning town of Xinji, helping the cluster rebuild its
reputation by investing in high-quality raw material, clean and thorough methods of
prod
TOTY Archive1 - Oct/Nov 2015
Tannery of the Year: Couro do Norte, Belém, Pará, Brazil
Located in the northern Brazilian state of Pará, Couro do Norte grew out of a family-run wet-salted hides business. Around 15 years ago it began adding extra value to local hides by turning them into wet blue and wet white and has now built up a successfu
TOTY Archive1 - Aug/Sept 2015
Tannery of the Year: Tärnsjö Garveri, Sweden
There are few tanneries left in Scandinavia. As one of those that remain, Tärnsjö Garveri in Sweden knows it must continue to offer “something unique” to claim its place in a global industry that now carries out almost all of its activity much further sou
TOTY Archive1 - June/July 2015
Tannery of the Year: Atlantic Leather, Saudarkrokur, Iceland
It suits Atlantic Leather to have a small coastal town in the far north of Iceland as its base. Not only does it have easy access to clean, renewable energy and an abundance of water in this location, but also a plentiful supply of its most important raw
TOTY Archive1 - June/July 2015
Leading tanneries prove integral link in the automotive chain
It’s not easy to cope with the demands of car makers, which request high quality, flexibility
and large volumes at competitive costs, but tanners work hard to stay one step ahead by
using innovative techniques and developing more effective working methods
TOTY Archive1 - Feb/Mar 2015
Innovation of the Year
For the second time, a component of the Tannery of the Year programme for 2014 was the
Innovation Award. As in previous editions of the competition all of the finalists have displayed
serious commitment to innovation. Two examples of this inventiveness wa
TOTY Archive1 - Oct/Nov 2014
Judging panel - TOTY 2014
Judges for the Tannery of the Year Awards 2014 were
kind enough to give up their time in the build-up to
the final in Shanghai in September to read all nine
detailed reports, as published over the last year in World
Leather, and, on the day of the final,
TOTY Archive1 - Oct/Nov 2014
A question of trust
Customers of Wollsdorf Leather in Austria know that the material they source from the
fourth global Tannery of the Year winner will not be the lowest price in the market, but
they believe they can trust the company to keep innovating, keep building strong
TOTY Archive1 - Oct/Nov 2014
Tannery of the Year: Africa
The fourth programme of Tannery of the Year has yielded a candidate list of six excellent tanneries for Africa.
TOTY Archive1 - Aug/Sept 2014
Tannery of the Year finalist: Henan Prosper, Henan Province
Specialist sheepskin tannery Henan Prosper has ambitions to be one of the biggest and most
successful producers in the world of leather from this raw material. Beyond that, it is manufacturing
and bringing to market a wide range of footwear under various
TOTY Archive1 - June/July 2014
Tannery of the Year: China
The fourth programme of Tannery of the Year has yielded a candidate list of
ten excellent tanneries for China.
TOTY Archive1 - June/July 2014
Tannery of the Year: The Americas
The fourth programme of Tannery of the Year has yielded a candidate list of eight excellent tanneries for The Americas region.
TOTY Archive1 - Apr/May 2014
Tannery of the Year: JBS Couros, Itumbiara, Goiás, Brazil
Six years ago, JBS had no tanneries: now it’s the largest producer of leather in the world. This achievement has come about through acquisitions, and then through careful planning, restructuring and investment in innovation. The tannery at Itumbiara is on
TOTY Archive1 - Apr/May 2014
Tannery of the Year: Bojos Tanning, Santiago, Dominican Republic
Bojos Tanning is a company that can trace its history back for almost a century, but perhaps the most dramatic event in that 100 years occurred in 2007 when flood waters wiped out the business completely. The Bojos company could have walked away, but deci
TOTY Archive1 - Apr/May 2014
Tannery of the Year finalist: Packer Leather, Australia
At one time, in the area around Brisbane, there were dozens of tanneries. Packer Leather, the only one still tanning, has survived through determination and its ability to move with the times, from sheepskin in its early days to its position now as one of
TOTY Archive1 - Feb/Mar 2014
Tannery of the Year finalist: Saigon Tan Tec, Vietnam
For years, tanning industry entrepreneur Thomas Schneider dreamed of building his ideal tannery from scratch. When a plot of land became available just north of Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, he took the chance to turn his dream into reality
TOTY Archive1 - Feb/Mar 2014
Tannery of the Year finalist: Couro Azul, Alcanena, Portugal
Family-owned and -run, Couro Azul is part of the Carvalhos Group of tanneries, based in Alcanena, Portugal’s main leather industry hub. Its main focus is automotive leather, with steering-wheel leather its specialism, but it aims to expand more and more i
TOTY Archive1 - Dec/Jan 2013
Real tanneries, real life
The fourth Tannery of the Year Global Awards programme is about to start; the first of the new reports will appear in the next issue of World Leather (December 2013-January 2014). During the first three editions, we have had the privilege of seeing at ver
TOTY Archive1 - Oct/Nov 2013
PrimeAsia China picks up global award
A move towards making improvements internally at PrimeAsia China on measuring the “resource-heaviness” of its leather has begun to make a wider impact on the global leather industry. The 2013 Tannery of the Year competition has recognised the example the company is setting and acknowledged its commitment to doing things well.
TOTY Archive1 - Apr/May 2013
Tannery of the Year finalist: Midori Hokuyo, Japan
The Midori Hokuyo tannery in Yamagata is the only remaining automotive tannery in the home of automotive supply chain excellence. It aims to prove that many of the quality and continuous improvement initiatives to have come out of automotive manufacturing
TOTY Archive1 - Feb/Mar 2013
Tannery of the Year finalist: Royal Leather, Pakistan
Royal Leather Industries, which processes goat and sheepskins and cow and buffalo hides from raw to finished leather is a long-term supplier to major furniture group Ikea. The lessons it has learned from working with the Swedish group have helped it meet the demands of customers in the footwear, garment and leathergoods sectors too.
TOTY Archive1 - Feb/Mar 2013
Tannery of the Year finalist: PrimeAsia China
Part of the network of tanneries that PrimeAsia runs, the facility in Huangjiang in southern China is a long-serving supplier to many of the footwear industry’s household names. More recently, it pioneered a way of calculating the carbon footprint of its leather.
TOTY Archive1 - Oct/Nov 2012
Tannery of the Year finalist: Lefarc – Leon, Mexico
Run by a fourth-generation Leon tanning family, Lefarc is committed to providing quality finished leather from quality raw materials to meet the needs of demanding footwear and leathergoods brands in Mexico and beyond.
TOTY Archive1 - Aug/Sep 2012
Tannery of the Year Americas 2012: Nominations
The 2012–2013 edition of Tannery of the Year competition is under way and in this issue we look at the Americas. There were 11 shortlisted tanneries from which two finalists have emerged.
TOTY Archive1 - Aug/Sep 2012
Third Tannery of the Year programme kicks off
Now in its third edition, Tannery of the Year, the industry’s platform for celebrating its best examples of excellence in corporate social responsibility, has more momentum behind it than ever.
TOTY Archive1 - June/July 2012
Tannery of the Year finalist: Sepici Grubu, Torbali-Izmir, Turkey
A family-run tannery near Izmir in Turkey, Sepiciler runs separate production lines for vegetable- and chrome-tanned leather, as well as for sole leather. It has clients in high-end markets across Europe, Asia and North America.
TOTY Archive1 - June/July 2012
Tannery of the Year finalist: Gruppo Dani, Arzignano, Italy
As one of the biggest and longest established full-service tanneries in the northern Italian cluster of Arzignano, Gruppo Dani has grown into the role of an ambitious and pioneering company, determined to uphold the quality of ‘Made in Italy’ while making
TOTY Archive1 - June/July 2012
Tannery of the Year 2011: Review
Almost a year’s intensive analysis of a select group of the best tanneries in the world reached its climax in Shanghai on September 6 at the final judging and Gala Dinner for Tannery of the Year 2011, the global leather industry’s most glamorous and high-
TOTY Archive1 - Oct/Nov 2011
Innovation Part 1: Recycling and regeneration
Twenty world standard tanneries have opened their doors for in-depth study as part of Tannery of the Year Awards 2009 and 2011. Considerable technical information has been published in World Leather following these visits, and there has been an emphasis o
TOTY Archive1 - Oct/Nov 2011
Tannery of the Year 2011: Cool judgement
The ten finalist tanneries were judged on their technical ability, environmental programmes, social responsibility, sustainability, investment, and relationships with customers.
TOTY Archive1 - Oct/Nov 2011
Tannery of the Year finalist: Elico, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Proud of its status as Ethiopia’s only tannery currently exporting only finished leather, Elico has plans in place to increase every area of its output and double sales. It is optimistic about the future.
TOTY Archive1 - Jun/Jul 2011
Tannery of the Year finalist: Nakara, Windhoek, Namibia
When you operate the only full-service tannery in a country like Namibia, you have to be prepared to work with a wide variety of material. Windhoek-based Nakara has built up a reputation for being able to tackle just about anything.
TOTY Archive1 - Jun/Jul 2011
Tannery of the Year finalist: PT Budi Makmur, Yogyakarta, Indonesia
Founded in the city of Yogyakarta in 1966, PT Budi Makmur is devoted to tanning small skins (goat and sheep) for gloving and shoe upper leather. The company’s remoteness from the bulk of the global leather industry has made it especially creative and reso
TOTY Archive1 - Feb/Mar 2011
The launch of Tannery of the Year 2011
After the success of the competition in 2009-2010, we are delighted to
get a new edition of this unique competition under way.
TOTY Archive1 - Dec/Jan 2010
Tannery of the Year: Heller-Leder, Hehlen, Germany
Automotive and furniture upholstery leather specialist Heller-Leder has
been a prominent presence in the quiet Lower Saxony town of Hehlen
for 90 years. Its commitment to keeping all aspects of production on its
home turf is as strong as ever.
TOTY Archive1 - Dec/Jan 2010
Tannery of the Year: Hulshof, Lichtenvoorde, The Netherlands
Hulshof Royal Dutch Tanneries has been based in Lichtenvoorde in the east of the Netherlands since the
middle of the nineteenth century. It operates from a busy residential part of the town but has won
acceptance from its neighbours thanks in part to its
TOTY Archive1 - Dec/Jan 2010
Tannery of the Year Awards goes far beyond benchmarking
A review of the first Tannery of the Year Awards Programme, offering a recap of what the initiative stands for, what the criteria are for tanneries across the world to become finalists and an extensive report of the first Gala Dinner in Hong Kong on March 29 at which the winners of the 2009 competition were announced.
TOTY Archive1 - Apr/May 2010
Tannery of the Year: Tata International Leather Business Unit, Dewas, Madhya Pradesh, India
The tannery in the town of Dewas, in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, is a core component of the leather business unit of Tata International, part of the Tata Group, the largest private-sector firm in India. The tannery is a large-scale operation, sourcing 150,000 square-feet of raw material every day and producing three million square-feet of finished leather every month for prominent footwear, leathergoods and garment brands around the world. The facility was the first tannery in India to earn the right to put the country’s Eco-Mark label on its leather and, with a strong commitment to empowering the workforce there, Tata International is confident the site can continue to make an important impact on the whole community in and around Dewas for many years to come.
TOTY Archive1 - Feb/Mar 2010
Tannery of the Year: PrimeAsia Vietnam, Ba Ria, Vung Tau, Vietnam
PrimeAsia set up its third tannery, in Vietnam, in 2002 to build on the success of its facilities in Taiwan and China. The Vietnam site is now an important component of the group and is working hard to keep its performance levels high.
TOTY Archive1 - Feb/Mar 2010
Established in 2009, the Tannery of the Year programme seeks to celebrate commitment to innovation, to partnership, to leadership and to sustainability. The “boots on the ground” reports from the World Leather team, act as your eyes in today’s modern tanneries.
