Animal welfare

The good quality of our products starts on the farm and at the slaughterhouse. Care and respect for the animals and nature are crucial for ensuring that we can produce high-quality products and create value for our customers and for consumers.

We are committed to driving up animal welfare standards within the business and with our suppliers. The globally-recognised Five Freedoms (as defined by the Farm Animal Welfare Council) form the core of our own farming supply chain animal welfare standards and is a requirement of all of our suppliers.

Freedom from hunger & thirst - by ready access to fresh water and a diet to maintain full health & vigour
Freedom from discomfort - by providing an appropriate environment including shelter and a comfortable resting area
Freedom from pain, injury or disease - by prevention or rapid diagnosis and treatment
Freedom to express normal behavior - by providing sufficient space, proper facilities and the company of the animal’s own kind
Freedom from fear & distress - by ensuring conditions and care which avoid mental suffering

Our supplying farms and processing sites are complying with legislative standards at both EU and national level. All our suppliers have signed a Code of Conduct to testify that they comply with the highest standards of animal welfare.

Read about traceability here

Premium quality

Scan-Hide handles up to 25,000 rawhides a week. That’s more than 1,1 million hides a year. They come from abattoirs in Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Germany – and from both beef and dairy cattle.

Quality depends on the surface of the hide. The cleaner and more intact it is, the higher the quality. This is all down to our climate and standards of animal welfare.

In Scandinavia and Northern Europe, the climate is mild. So cattle grazing outdoors have not been exposed to scorching sun, which hardens their hide. Nor have they endured continual exposure to parasites or mosquitoes, whose bites leave scars.

When it comes to animal welfare, farmers in this region comply with the highest standards in the world and have done so for years. The fact that their cattle have lived good lives – with proper feed and care, sufficient space, comfortable facilities and no use of barbed wires – reflects on their hides, leaving them almost clear of scars and scratches.

In this way, climate and animal welfare combine to make Nordic hides more functional for further refinement. Exclusivity starts with the quality of the rawhide.