Manufacturing Countries

Over 50% of our products are manufactured in European countries, such as Portugal (31%), Lithuania (5%), Poland (6%), Italy (5%) and Turkey (6%). Another important manufacturing countrie is China (30%), where our silk and cashmere products are made.   
 
We consider it important to visit our manufacturers. Our goal is to visit all our largest manufacturers in terms of production by the end of 2024. We visited our leather manufacturers in Turkey in November 2022 and all our Portuguese manufacturers in January 2023. Our Asian contacts visit and monitor our manufacturers in China on a regular basis. We require that all our partners adhere to our ethical operating principles.  

Regarding logistics, we place increasing importance on environmental aspects. In the last three years, we have centralised our deliveries and halved the number of shipments we make. 91% of our products are delivered by truck. The share of rail freight in our total freight transport was 5%. Air freight accounted for 4% of all our deliveries in 2022. We favour rail freight over air freight whenever possible.

Most of the world's cashmere is produced in China, which is why our cashmere clothing and accessories are also made there. Our silk garments and silk household textiles are also made in China. We require that all our Chinese manufacturers pass a third-party social responsibility audit by 2025. This means that the working conditions at the manufacturers’ facilities will be inspected by an independent third party regularly and systematically. 

Our cashmere garments are manufactured by two different partners, one of which is located in the province of Hebei and the other in Inner Mongolia. Our manufacturer from Inner Mongolia controls the entire production chain for their cashmere products, from the cleaning of the raw cashmere wool to the finished knitted products. Our cashmere beanies are made in the Hohhot region of Inner Mongolia, which we last visited in May 2019. 

Most of Balmuir's household products, such as our high-quality terry towels, bathrobes and bed linen, are manufactured in Portugal.

Our linen clothes and household textiles, as well as some of our woollen jackets are made in Lithuania.

Some of the scarves and fabrics in Balmuir’s collection are produced by our Italian partners.

One of our longest-term partners operates in Nepal, specialising in the manufacture of scarves. We last visited our Nepalese partner in September 2019.  We are currently actively investigating the possibility of carrying out third-party social responsibility audits.

Balmuir’s glasses, candles and room fragrances are made in Poland. Our candles are made using traditional craft methods. Some of Balmuir's packaging materials also come from Poland.  

Balmuir's leather garments, wallets and bags are made in Turkey using high-quality leather. Our Turkish partner has undergone a social responsibility audit (SMETA) and the company holds the Leather Working Group's LWG Gold certificate.

Balmuir's kid mohair scarves are made in South Africa. About 50% of all the mohair in the world is produced in South Africa. Our long-term partner employs local marginalised women. The employees knit the scarves using hand-operated knitting machines and brush and wash the scarves by hand. We are the main partner of this manufacturer, meaning that the production of kid mohair products is the main occupation of the company’s employees. We last visited our South African partner in 2018.     

Other manufacturing countires include Estonia (2,5%, fashion products), Finland (1,3%, cosmetics) and Peru (1,3%, products made of 100% alpaca). Our crystal products are made in the Czech Republic (0.2%), hats in Ecuador (0.6%), and shoes in Spain (0.4%).

*Percentages represent procurement volumes in 2022.