Salmon leather, Nordic Fish Leather
One person's trash is another person's treasure - Let's create a new life
Nordic Fish leather
Salmon skin
High-quality leather from Iceland
At the heart of the circular economy is the idea of using existing materials efficiently, rather than constantly creating new ones. This idea is also reflected in our collaboration with Nordic Fish Leather, where salmon skin is transformed into bag material.
Nordic Fish Leather is located in Sauðárkrókur, a small but vibrant community of 3,000 people in the Skagafjörður fjord in Iceland. Nordic Fish Leather’s business idea was born from the desire to bring ancient craftsmanship into the modern world and produce high-quality fish leather from surplus fish industry waste. Small insights can lead to great things - one person’s trash is another’s treasure.
FOUNDED: 2020
LOCATION: SAUÐÁRKRÓKI, ICELAND
From food industry waste to bag material
Iceland is a fishing nation surrounded by the sea, which has used fish skin for centuries, for example as a material for shoes. Small amounts of surplus fish skin are used, for example as animal feed, but most of it ends up wasted, even though it is durable and high-quality leather. We want to make a change in this, because when new resources are needed less, the burden on nature is also reduced.
Salmon leather is thin, soft and very strong. We use salmon leather in small bags or bag details, such as handles.
Now you know how we at Lovia use salmon skin, but where does it originally come from? The salmon skins used by Nordic Fish Leather are sourced from companies that produce salmon for the food industry in the Nordic countries. Fish skin is therefore a by-product of fishing and fish farming. After the fish is caught, it is filleted, the skin is removed and cut into pieces for resale around the world. At this point, the fish skin usually ends up wasted.
Nordic Fish Leather collects the skins and tans and dyes them for further use. Tanning is a process of leather processing that aims to make the leather durable. The material then travels from Iceland by ship and road to our designer Outi's desk in Helsinki, where the salmon skin gets a new life in the form of unique bags.
Greetings from the Saudarkrok factory
We want to give our partners a voice, because without them the idea of utilizing waste material would just remain, well, an idea. Here are some greetings from Nordic Fish Leather and snippets of the team's everyday life, as it happens at the factory in Sauðárkrókur.
"At the beginning of 2020, we decided to close all our other operations and focus fully on developing and improving fish skin tanning and finishing techniques. Our main goal is to produce high-quality fish skin as sustainably as possible. We only purchase raw materials from certified partners who are committed to responsibility and we also use only green energy in our entire production. All the electricity we use is hydroelectric and the hot water comes from a local hot spring.
"Salmon skin has long been an undervalued material that has ended up in the trash. However, we have found a solution to produce high-quality leather from surplus material for many different uses."
-Hlynur Ársælsson, Nordic Fish Leather
We do a lot of good, but we are not perfect.
The stories told on this page sound great and we are proud of them, but what next? Reducing the environmental impact of our products requires continuous development, so there is still room for improvement.
Farming salmon for food production is not entirely ethically unproblematic. However, as long as farming continues, salmon skin will be produced as surplus and most of it will end up wasted. At the moment, it makes sense to put the surplus to good use, as salmon skin is an underutilized material, while exploring better options for the future.
Nordic Fish Leather
Salmon skin
High-quality leather from Iceland
At the heart of the circular economy is the idea of using existing materials efficiently, rather than constantly creating new ones. This idea is also reflected in our collaboration with Nordic Fish Leather, where salmon skin is transformed into bag material.
Nordic Fish Leather is located in Sauðárkrókur, a small but vibrant community of 3,000 people in the Skagafjörður fjord in Iceland. Nordic Fish Leather’s business idea was born from the desire to bring ancient craftsmanship into the modern world and produce high-quality fish leather from surplus fish industry waste. Small insights can lead to big things - one person’s trash is another’s treasure.
FOUNDED: 2020
LOCATION: SAUÐÁRKRÓKI, ICELAND
From food industry waste to bag material
Iceland is a fishing nation surrounded by the sea, which has used fish skin for centuries, for example as a material for shoes. Small amounts of surplus fish skin are used, for example as animal feed, but most of it ends up wasted, even though it is durable and high-quality leather. We want to make a change in this, because when new resources are needed less, the burden on nature is also reduced.
Salmon leather is thin, soft and very strong. We use salmon leather in small bags or bag details, such as handles.
Now you know how we at Lovia use salmon skin, but where does it originally come from? The salmon skins used by Nordic Fish Leather are sourced from companies that produce salmon for the food industry in the Nordic countries. Fish skin is therefore a by-product of fishing and fish farming. After the fish is caught, it is filleted, the skin is removed and cut into pieces for resale around the world. At this point, the fish skin usually ends up wasted.
Nordic Fish Leather collects the skins and tans and dyes them for further use. Tanning is a process of leather processing that aims to make the leather durable. The material then travels from Iceland by ship and road to our designer Outi's desk in Helsinki, where the salmon skin gets a new life in the form of unique bags.
Greetings from the Saudarkrok factory
We want to give our partners a voice, because without them the idea of utilizing waste material would just remain, well, an idea. Here are some greetings from Nordic Fish Leather and snippets of the team's everyday life, as it happens at the factory in Sauðárkrókur.
"At the beginning of 2020, we decided to close all our other operations and focus fully on developing and improving fish skin tanning and finishing techniques. Our main goal is to produce high-quality fish skin as sustainably as possible. We only purchase raw materials from certified partners who are committed to responsibility and we also use only green energy in our entire production. All the electricity we use is hydroelectric and the hot water comes from a local hot spring.
"Salmon skin has long been an undervalued material that has ended up in the trash. However, we have found a solution to produce high-quality leather from surplus material for many different uses."
-Hlynur Ársælsson, Nordic Fish Leather
Where could we do better?
The stories told on this page sound great and we are proud of them, but what next? Reducing the environmental impact of our products requires continuous development, so there is still room for improvement.
Farming salmon for food production is not entirely ethically unproblematic. However, as long as farming continues, salmon skin will be produced as surplus and most of it will end up wasted. At the moment, it makes sense to put the surplus to good use, as salmon skin is an underutilized material, while exploring better options for the future.
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