Tannery of the Year is an awards programme for the global tanning

Tanning

Tanning is the making of leather from the skins of animals which does not easily decompose. Traditionally, tanning used tannin, an acidic chemical compound from which the tanning process draws its name . Coloring may occur during tanning...

 industry, launched in 2009 to celebrate the production of leather

Leather

Leather is a durable and flexible material created via the tanning of putrescible animal rawhide and skin, primarily cattlehide. It can be produced through different manufacturing processes, ranging from cottage industry to heavy industry.-Forms:...

 and to help promote the material’s use throughout the world in footwear

Footwear

Footwear consists of garments worn on the feet, for fashion, protection against the environment, and adornment. Being barefoot is commonly associated with poverty, but some cultures chose not to wear footwear at least in some situations....

, furniture

Furniture

Furniture is the mass noun for the movable objects intended to support various human activities such as seating and sleeping in beds, to hold objects at a convenient height for work using horizontal surfaces above the ground, or to store things...

, car and aeroplane interiors, handbag

Handbag

A handbag, or purse in American English, is a handled medium-to-large bag that is often fashionably designed, typically used by women, to hold personal items such as wallet/coins, keys, cosmetics, a hairbrush, pepper spray, cigarettes, mobile phone etc....

s and other accessories, glove

Glove

A glove is a garment covering the hand. Gloves have separate sheaths or openings for each finger and the thumb; if there is an opening but no covering sheath for each finger they are called "fingerless gloves". Fingerless gloves with one large opening rather than individual openings for each...

s and other applications.

The programme will honour 10 tanneries

Tanning

Tanning is the making of leather from the skins of animals which does not easily decompose. Traditionally, tanning used tannin, an acidic chemical compound from which the tanning process draws its name . Coloring may occur during tanning...

 in five regions in its first year.

Background

The awards idea represents a response to the call from the International Leather Forum, an industry gathering that took place in Paris

Paris

Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...

 in September 2007, for companies in every part of the industry to speak up for leather, to celebrate its beauty and usefulness, its history and its future.

With the focus on corporate social responsibility

Corporate social responsibility

Corporate social responsibility is a form of corporate self-regulation integrated into a business model...

, the Tannery of the Year programme will identify the two best tanneries in China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

, the rest of Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

, the Americas

Americas

The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...

, Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

 and Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

.

The idea has already won the backing of APLF, an industry exhibition held annually in Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

, chemical supplier Buckman, the International Council of Tanners, the International Union of Leather Technologists and Chemists Societies and Washington DC-based campaign body Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production

Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production

Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production is a not-for-profit 501 organization dedicated to promoting ethical, humane, and lawful conditions and practices in manufacturing facilities all around the world...

.

Finalists for 2009

The finalists are as follows:

Europe — Bridge of Weir Leather Company Limited, Renfrewshire

Renfrewshire

Renfrewshire is one of 32 council areas used for local government in Scotland. Located in the west central Lowlands, it is one of three council areas contained within the boundaries of the historic county of Renfrewshire, the others being Inverclyde to the west and East Renfrewshire to the east...

, Scotland

Scotland

Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...

, and Josef Heinen GmbH & Co KG, Wegberg, Germany.

Africa — Pittards Ethiopia Tannery Share Company, Nazaret, Ethiopia

Ethiopia

Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...

, and South Cape Ostrich Tanning Limited, Mossel Bay

Mossel Bay

Mossel Bay is a harbour town of about 130,000 people on the Southern Cape of South Africa. It is an important tourism and farming region of the Western Cape Province...

, South Africa

South Africa

The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...

.

China — ISA TanTec, Guangzhou

Guangzhou

Guangzhou , known historically as Canton or Kwangchow, is the capital and largest city of the Guangdong province in the People's Republic of China. Located in southern China on the Pearl River, about north-northwest of Hong Kong, Guangzhou is a key national transportation hub and trading port...

, and Simona Tanning, Huizhou

Huizhou

Huizhou , historically known as Waichow, is a city located in central Guangdong province of the People's Republic of China. Part of the Pearl River Delta, Huizhou borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou to the west, Shaoguan to the north, Heyuan to the northeast, Shanwei to the east, Shenzhen...

, both in Guangdong Province.

Americas — Curtiembres Fonseca, Lanús

Lanús

Lanús is the capital of Lanús Partido, Buenos Aires Province in Argentina. It lies just south of the capital city Buenos Aires, in the Greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area. The city has a population of 212,152 , and the Partido de Lanús has a total population of 453,500.A major industrial centre,...

, Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

, Argentina

Argentina

Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...

, and Procesos Húmedos de León, León, Guanajuato

León, Guanajuato

The city of León, formally León de los Aldama is the sixth most populous city in Mexico and the first in the state of Guanajuato. It is also the seat of the municipality of León...

, Mexico

Mexico

The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federal constitutional republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of...

.

Asia excluding China — PrimeAsia Vietnam in Bà Rịa

Ba Ria

Bà Rịa is a town in Ba Ria–Vung Tau province in the southeast of Vietnam. Ba Ria is split from Vung Tau by a river crossed by Co May Bridge....

, Vũng Tàu

Vung Tàu

Vũng Tàu is a city in southern Vietnam. Its population in 2005 was 240,000. The city area is including 13 urban wards and one village. It is the capital of Ba Ria-Vung Tau province, and is the crude oil extraction center of Vietnam. It is also known as one of the most beautiful cities of tourism...

, Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

, and the Tata International tannery in Dewas

Dewas

Dewas is an ancient town situated on the Malwa plateau in the West-central part of Indian state called Madhya Pradesh, about 160 km south west from state capital, Bhopal. It is the administrative center of the Dewas District, and was formerly the seat of two princely states during the British...

, Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh , often called the Heart of India, is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal and Indore is the largest city....

, India.

An inaugural awards dinner will take place in Hong Kong on March 29, 2010, at which the winner for each region and one global winner will be announced.

The idea behind the Tannery of the Year programme came from World Trades Publishing, a business-to-business

Business-to-business

Business-to-business describes commerce transactions between businesses, such as between a manufacturer and a wholesaler, or between a wholesaler and a retailer...

 publishing company based in Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

, United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

, which publishes a leather industry trade magazine called World Leather.

Result for Tannery of the Year 2009

On March 29, 2010, in Hong Kong, the Ethiopia Tannery Share Company emerged as the winner of the regional competition for Africa, and later as the overall global Tannery of the Year.

The tannery, close to the village of Ejersa, is now owned by the Pittards tanning group. It took over ownership of the company in December 2009, having run it as a partner of previous owners, the Ethiopian government, since 2005.

Accepting the global award, managing director, John Moriarty, said:

“I am delighted to accept this award on behalf of all the people who work at the tannery. I hoped we might win the regional award for Africa, but I didn't dare dream that we might win the global award.”

He said he thought the tannery’s commitment to its people, to the rural community that lives near the site, and to working towards top-class environmental practice had been the main reasons for the judges’ choice. He went on to say that he believed the Tannery of the Year programme was an excellent platform for the whole of the leather industry to tell its positive success stories, and that more tanneries should take part if given the chance.

The five regional award winners were:

• Africa—Ethiopia Tannery Share Company
• Americas—Curtiembres Fonseca, Argentina
• Asia excluding China—PrimeAsia Vietnam
• China—Simona Tanning
• Europe—Bridge of Weir Leather Company, Scotland.

Tannery of the Year 2011

A second round of the Tannery of the Year competition ran from the start of November 2010 until the Gala Final event in Shanghai on September 6, 2011. Organisers World Leather have worked out that the Awards programme will work best on 18-month cycles. The third programme will start in early 2012 and come to a conclusion in Hong Kong in March 2013.

Tannery of the Year 2011 Finalists

Ten finalist tanneries gathered in Shanghai on Tuesday, September 6 2011 to make presentations to a panel of four judges and answer questions. The judges also have available eight-page reports on each of the ten tanneries, published in World Leather magazine between December 2010 and August 2011. The ten finalists stood out from longer candidate lists because of their commitment to the six principles underpinning the competition: commitment to innovation, to environmental best practice, to their workers, to the communities with which they share resources, to maintaining strong relationships with suppliers and customers and to financial sustainability. Each of the ten also demonstrated clear support for Tannery of the Year’s objectives of opening the leather industry up to greater public accountability and of presenting a platform for sharing positive examples of the work that many leather-producing companies around the world are engaged in to improve the industry’s image.

The finalists for Tannery of the Year 2011 are as follows.

• Africa - Elico, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; and Nakara, Windhoek, Namibia.
• Americas - Artículos de Piel Los Favoritos (B’Leather), Santiago, the Dominican Republic; and Coming Indústria e Comércio de Couros, Trindade, Goiás, Brazil.
• Asia excluding China - PT Budi Makmur Jayamurni, Yogyakarta, Indonesia; and TehChang Leather Products Co Ltd, Ta Yuan, Taiwan.
• China - Gansu Hongliang Leather Limited, Gansu Province; and Xing Ye Leather Technology Company, Fujian Province.
• Europe - Heller-Leder, Hehlen, Germany; and Hulshof Royal Dutch Tanneries, Lichtenvoorde, the Netherlands.

Tannery of the Year 2011 Winners

At the final in Shanghai on September 6, 2011, the following tanneries won the regional awards.

• Africa - Nakara, Namibia.
• Americas - Coming Indústria e Comércio de Couros, Brazil.
• Asia excluding China - TehChang Leather Products Co Ltd, Taiwan.
• China - Xing Ye Leather Technology Company, Fujian Province.
• Europe - Heller-Leder, Germany.

From these five regional winners, Heller-Leder from Germany was named as the global Tannery of the Year for 2011.