Oritain expands leather traceability for ethical sourcing

Oritain, a global expert in origin verification, has extended its scientific tracing methods to leather, a material often harder to track than cotton. Michela Mossali, Oritain’s government relations manager, said many brands only know the manufacturer and sometimes the tanneries that supply finished leather.

Oritain’s scientific method checks the geographic origin of leather by studying the natural elements animals absorb from their surroundings, such as soil, water, climate and food. These stable markers create a unique “origin fingerprint” that stays in the hide even after heavy tanning processes.

To confirm origin, Oritain uses a special method that studies the isotopic makeup of hides. This technique allows testing at different production stages, from raw hide to wet blue, wet white and finished leather, without interrupting normal operations.

Oritain has built a large reference database for cow, calf and sheep hides from major producing regions across Europe, Africa and South America. To do this, they visit production zones, collect samples, and analyze them in advanced laboratories before confirming the information for audits. Every tested sample is matched with this database to check if its true origin matches what is claimed.

Once confirmed, origin data becomes a reliable tool for both brands and tanneries. It helps confirm existing supply chain knowledge and shows where more action or communication may be needed.