For Jon Clark – PrimeAsia’s Chief Executive Officer – it is a matter of mindset changing. “We understand the responsibility of the leather industry in the food supply chain, upcycling a by-product and transforming it into an important material. We are proud of that. However, it is time to change the way we approach things. We do not want to keep talking about our role in recycling that by-product, this is an intrinsic part of our existence. Instead, we want to focus on how our behavior and actions with our suppliers can generate improved practices not only in our industry, but upstream in the supply chain, all the way to the farm level.
The leather industry plays an important part in connecting different sectors, uniting on one side farming and the food industry, and on the other side the industries around materials, fashion and design. That link creates great opportunities, but it also comes with responsibilities. The Responsibly Raised initiative looks into ways of creating synergy along the value chain promoting projects that are striving to deliver more sustainable outcomes.
PrimeAsia will be releasing videos that provide deeper coverage of its responsibility raised initiative and how it can contribute to sustainability in the leather sector. Themes covered include traceability, animal welfare, environmental efficiency and transparency.
Fernando Bellese, Chief Sustainability Officer at PrimeAsia, insists engaging with customers, partners and consumers through social media and online platforms is important in this ever-increasingly digital age: “We are looking to provide more visibility to leading initiatives in our supply chain that contribute to a more sustainable sector and believe social media platforms are a good place to promote those concepts. Social Medias are not only an efficient way of sharing this content to a wider audience, but also a good way to collaborate and receive feedback from our stakeholders.”