From design to manufacturing, BALSA pays a lot of  attention to the raw materials used. From their processing and optimization to limit waste. And, you know, our main material is leather.

From supplier to consumer, overview of our commitments.

Our first commitment is to offer you quality and durable items. But not without ethics! The skins we use come from breeding lines for the food industry in Colombia. And we make sure that this sector meets the strictest standards in terms of animal treatment.

Until now, the skins were considered as waste by the producers. We therefore wish to develop this raw material to allow them to supplement their income while avoiding waste.

This is the first reason why our leathers are perfectly "imperfect": since the farms are not dedicated exclusively to the production of leather, the animals are bitten by insects, scratched by plants, etc. Like wood, leather has the memory of its life and of what time has brought to a living material.

This is why you will find, on each of your BALSA items, the imperfections of our leathers which make your accessories more unique.

Our second commitment concerns an important stage of the production process: tanning. This step consists of preparing the skins, cleaning them and conditioning them to be transformed into a resistant material.
To do this, the skins are immersed in water mixed with some chemicals products, mainly salts without chromium. We thus limit exposure to chemicals. This process is longer but more respectful.

On the one hand, for your health. Indeed, it was important for us to limit the risks of allergies or skin irritations for our users.

On the other hand, chrome-free tanning is a more environmentally friendly process.
And, always with the aim of reducing our environmental impact, we wanted to work exclusively with a tannery that has its own wastewater treatment unit, certified by the Colombian State.

Being in direct contact with this tannery allows us to select our leathers ourselves. But above all to control our the production process and guarantee the quality of our items.

Our third commitment follows on from the first two: the fight against waste.
Manufacturing requires a cutting step during which many offcuts are also produced.
In order to enhance the value of each skin, we seek to reuse all of our offcuts to make labels inside bags, packaging, straps, key chains, etc.
Scraps of leather that we cannot reuse are resold and not thrown away.
Along the same lines, all paper labels are made from recycled paper.

At BALSA, we are committed to our environment, our employees and our customers.
Using the leather that we select as a raw material is a guarantee of quality for us. A choice that is also part of an environmental approach. By offering you ethical and sustainable products, it is also a way for us to fight against mass production.
That is why we strive to work with leather suppliers who are governed by environmental regulations for wastewater treatment.