Animal-friendly leather

Unsustainable practice

Leather is a natural product with great qualities, such as strength, temperature regulation and beauty, which are highly appreciated in the pet products. Yet, as a by-product of meat it has several associated problems that may ultimately threaten its availability in the market. Meat, as well as the hide forming leather, obtained from livestock is essentially an unsustainable commodity for three reasons.

1. The supply of meat and hides is limited and is expected to fall back on the increasing demand over the next 35 years, leading to scarcity and price increases.
2.  Livestock contributes 15 to 20% to global greenhouse gas emissions, and therefore constitutes a major factor in climate change.
3.  Very relevant to the pet industry, the ethical position of the consumer towards factory farming and large scale slaughter is gradually shifting towards more awareness and less tolerancefor these practices. This trend is noticeable for human consumer products and is likely to be even stronger among pet holders and pet products.

Cell and tissue techniques

Recently, we have shown that with current cell and tissue culture techniques derived from medical science, it is possible to culture a beef hamburger in a laboratory from a tiny sample of muscle stem cells. Although still in its infancy and therefore absurdly expensive, the technology will reduce land and resource use and water consumption by 90%, energyuse by about 60% and a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions that exceeds those levels, because of the much smaller number of cows emitting methane.

Calculations convincingly prove that scaling up production will lead to acceptable prices which, with improving technology, will eventually dive under the current price of livestock beef.

Dermal fibroblasts

The obvious added result will be a huge drop in the number of available hides for leather, to which two start-up companies have already responded bydeveloping technology to culture hides. 

The technique used is known as dermal fibroblasts, in which cells are removed from a small piece of cow’s skin, more specifically the connective tissue directly underneath the skin surface. These cells have a tremendous capacity to multiply and to produce collagen, the protein that gives skin its structure and leather its specific mechanical properties. The process is very similar to culturing meat and if anything, slightly easier.

The advantages, in addition to a more sustainable and ethical production of leather, are a reduced need for tanning with aggressive chemicals and that you can essentially change the leather into any shape, thickness and size. The waste that is an inevitable part of natural hides will be much smaller in the cultured leather product.

Bringing to market

The two companies involved in cultured leather, Modern Meadow and Qorium, are not producing on a large scale yet and are still developing the required technologies and methods to start production. The first proofs of principle have been presented and it will be only a matter of time before they are capable of producing real quantities. Eventually, even under the microscope, cultured leather will be indistinguishable from current hide-based leather, with the only difference that it is made in the lab or in a factory.

The development of cultured leather will likely transform the industry. It provides an alternative to leather as a very desirable product, but without the negative consequences associated with livestock beef and hide production. Pet products are currently not part of the marketing strategy and funding pitches, but it is conceivable that the pet market is the first to develop and will lead the way to acceptance or even embracement of cultured leather.