Survival of the fittest?

Darwin came up with the theory of evolution. It was 'Survival of the Fittest'. I do not agree. I believe that to survive you must be flexible. To bend in the wind like bamboo. If you cannot adapt to changing circumstances, in your life, habitat, business circumstances, then your future is bleak. No longer is there any pretence that tanning in European countries such as Italy, France, Germany, Spain and the UK, is anything but really tough. To their advantage, however, Europe represents one of the most important consumer markets. When it comes to world buying power, two-thirds of global wealth is in the USA and Europe. Another prime strength is that Europe provides the world with the largest pool of design creativity. After all, it was the French who invented haute couture. And it was Italy who became the premiere leather producing country and luxury leathergoods provider. To add to this a number of young Brits have taken over the helm at some of the most famous design houses in France and Italy. So who among the western tanners will survive? In my view it must be those who strive to innovate and are constantly reinventing themselves. Many footwear upper leather tanners saw the writing on the wall and switched to producing upholstery leathers. But on the other hand some crafts such as box calf have all but died out in the effort to cut costs and compete at the lower end of the scale. Despite the punitive costs of complying with stricter environmental regulations, and many felt unequal to the struggle and closed, western tanneries are now among the cleanest in the world. In their hands chrome tanning is no longer a polluting process. And chrome tanned leathers are still the best that can be produced in most circumstances. Sadly, chrome has found itself with a bad reputation and market drivers, such as the automotive industry, are increasingly insisting on non chrome leathers. The chemicals suppliers know that chrome is not the problem but say they must produce whatever the customer demands. So chrome tanning is likely to diminish over time. According to Adam Hughes, BLC, customers are not that bothered with the quality of leather used in the products they buy but are only concerned with its fitness for purpose. In today's lifestyle products tend to be cheap and disposable. Even leather furniture may be discarded after 2-3 years and today's fashion needs to be in the shops in two weeks. All in all, Hughes believes that a lot of poor grade leather is sold. The truth is that the general public have very little understanding of what is actually involved in the leather industry. They neither know nor care that tanners remove a major health hazard from the meat industry and convert it into a desirable product. They accept ludicrous claims that cows are killed for their leather. Some even worry that they may catch something from sitting on a leather sofas. All hysterical rubbish! The current threat to the European leather industry is two-fold. The European chemicals industry has to contend with the REACh regulations, which could well mean an end to the development of specialist chemicals for niche markets, and then there is the more immediate problem of cheap imports from Asia. How can you compete on price with a country where a female worker may earn US$70/month for a 70-hour week or where a consumer product costing $1 in the country of origin sells at anything from ten to hundreds of times more in the west. Or the Chinese footwear factory which guaranteed their prices for two years, telling workers that if they demanded more money they would be sacked. However, as Song Xian Wen said earlier this year, China is not the enemy. China is a formidable competitor. We all need to do what we must to survive. China must do what is best for China and the west must come to terms with their own changing circumstances. Adapt or die. Shelagh Davy