Finally the return to presence for Lineapelle and for all the stakeholders of the leather sector. A fair still conditioned by the forced absence of some operators from important markets, such as the Asian ones, but which has provided interesting insights to understand trends and new opportunities. A lot of movement inside the stands and positive sensations among the exhibitors: this is how we can summarize the autumn edition of “Lineapelle-A New Point of View” for Tuscan Vegetable Tanned Leather, as reported by some of the Consortium member tanneries present at the fair.
Optimism is the key word. “The impression I had is optimistic – says Leonardo Volpi, president of the Genuine Italian Vegetable Tanned Leather Consortium and owner of Volpi Tanneries – You can see that there is a great desire to restart and see each other again, but to draw conclusions it’s better to wait. All in all, however, the prospects are good. The European market was well represented, above all we saw a clientele very determined to invest in quality.
European market does not disappoint. The positive impressions continue and also according to Martina Squarcini, of Conceria Il Ponte, “compared to September 2020 a lot has changed, now we really see the desire to resume what was interrupted. As for me, we have had good responses in particular from some countries such as Spain, Germany and Portugal but above all many Swedish customers. I can safely say that the fair went well beyond my expectations”.
The comparison with the past holds up. The “classic” fairs, ie those in the pre-Covid era, brought numerous customers from all over the world to the stands of the tanneries. According to Giorgio Tempesti, of the Tempesti Tannery, “the first two days of this edition of Lineapelle have nothing to envy to the previous ones, in fact we have had many visits from European customers, in particular from France. I didn’t expect it but I returned home satisfied and, given the period, we have to take it into account.”
Positive signals and interest. “Being present at this appointment was the right choice”, say Sabrina and Sandra Giardi, of M.P.G. Tanning Industry. “The absence of oriental buyers obviously had an impact but we, as many others, are satisfied with the response from the European market, in particular from Italy, France and Germany. If we had to briefly describe this experience we would say “positive but with reservations”, with the reservation due to the absence of some of the most important international buyers, although this was expected. However, what makes us proud and gives us hope is that many customers have asked for information on vegetable tanned leather because this product is starting to be considered by many as a truly sustainable material“.
