The Cervo Volante label makes practical leather products from the hides of red deer, which are usually burned. Vegetable-tanned in the canton of Bern, they are made by hand in small factories in Switzerland and nearby countries. In Switzerland, around 15,000 wild red deer are killed every year to regulate the hunting population. While the meat is used, this is not the case with the hides - they are often simply burned. Biologist Conny Thiel-Egenter and chemist Kadri Vunder Fontana thought this was far too valuable a raw material for such an inglorious end. This is how the Zurich label Cervo Volante was created in 2017. The hides are sourced from local butchers. These are sourced exclusively from wild animals that have been hunted sustainably in Switzerland, which is strictly regulated by law. The hides are tanned in the canton of Bern. Neither chrome nor synthetic pre-tanning agents are used, but sustainably obtained plant extracts. The oak-brown leather, for example, is produced by tanning with Valonea oak. The cognac-colored leather is tanned with mimosa and quebracho. The hides are then processed into leather products in selected production facilities in Switzerland or nearby countries. Wallets and bags, for example, are made in a small factory in southern Germany or in the Czech Republic.
