Welcome!
French Tanners Federation
The French Tanners Federation
Our organisation is composed of sixty companies, including 45 industrial companies, with a workforce of 1,800 people and an annual turnover of more than €400 million. French tanners produce over 5 millions of square meters of finish leathers per year, all categories of skins.
Tanners’ activity
Tanners transform large raw hides (calves, young bovine, cows, bulls, taurillons, buffaloes) into rot-proof leather by the use of tannins. Tanning can be carried out with mineral salts, vegetable extracts, synthetics or combined.
In France, the preparation of small skins (lambs, sheep, goat, fish, exotics) has a special name: it is called mégisserie. It comes from the mégis, a bath of water, ash and alum in which the skins were soaked. Today they use the same techniques as tanners: mineral salts, vegetable extracts, synthetics or combined.
More information, see the official Federation website.