VF Corp have recently stopped buying Brazilian leather while expecting their South American partners to provide them with new guarantees with regard to environmental sustainability. Well, such decision did not scare CICB, the association of Brazilian tanners, at all. Primarily, volumes of leather bought by the holding company (which is in control over a few brands, such as Vans, Timberland and Wrangler, among others) are not going to affect the overall business trend. Secondly, according to CICB top managers, domestic companies are able to meet successfully all demand and requirements.
“A marketing move”
As reported by noticiasominuto.com, they sent a message from the ACLE (held in Shanghai, on September 3-5) pavilions. While participating in the Chinese leather fair, Leticia Luft, CICB Project Manager, clarified that made in Brazil leather, purchased by VF Corp, just accounts for 0.5% of the total amount. Looking at such figure, her colleague, Ricardo Maelsen, considered the choice made by the US holding to be a “marketing move”.
Certifications
While speaking about environment guarantees, CICB representatives stressed the fact that all of the exporting Brazilian tanneries already hold certifications. They got them from CSCB, a certification Brazilian institute that is currently liaising with ICEC, and from private LWG (for the records, VF Corp themselves are one of its co-founders).
