SUSTAINABILITY
South Africa’s unemployment rate is 33.5%. VELDSKOEN cares deeply about creating jobs and stimulating the South African economy. That’s why, as far as we possibly can, we source raw materials locally. We also manufacture all our products locally.
All of VELDSKOEN’s leather shoes are produced by Hopewell Factory, a family business based in Durban, South Africa. Hopewell has been providing employment to the Durban community for over 50 years. Currently the factory employs 140 people.
VELDSKOEN leather is sourced from handpicked suppliers that share our obsession with quality, our respect for the environment, and our love of upcycling!
All of the leather used to make VELDSKOEN’s shoes is a byproduct of the South African meat industry. That means that the leather that made your beautiful pair of long lasting, high quality Vellies, would otherwise have ended up in a landfill. By choosing VELDSKOEN you are choosing to upcycle what would otherwise have been considered a waste product.
VELDSKOEN only partners with leather suppliers that provide fair living wages and working conditions to their employees, and respect their rights.
All Veldskoen leather suppliers are fully compliant with South Africa’s fair labour laws, including the Labour Relations Act and the Basic Conditions of Employment Act.
They all also comply with the regulations of the National Bargaining Council of the Leather Industry of South Africa through memberships to either SAFLEC, SATEO, or SHALC.
All of Veldskoen’s leather suppliers make use of REACH compliant chemicals in their tanning processes. REACH is a regulation of the European Union, adopted to improve the protection of human health and the environment from the risks that can be posed by chemicals, while enhancing the competitiveness of the EU chemicals industry.
By using only REACH compliant chemicals and disposing of their waste responsibly, Veldskoen leather suppliers are protecting their staff, their communities, and the surrounding natural environment from damage due to harmful chemicals.
VELDSKOEN cares about upskilling South Africans so they can find and do meaningful work that pays a living wage. That’s one of the reasons why all our leather shoes are produced by Hopewell Factory.
Hopewell is an approved CTFL Seta Training provider in the South African footwear industry. Their factory training programme teaches unskilled workers core skills they’d need to be considered for a position in the factory. These skills include how to safely operate a sewing machine, sort and cut leather, and use the basic assembly tools used in shoemaking.
