With Cao(Genuine Fur Industry Base)
Ms Cao is the founder of OFY Fur Co., Ltd. in Yuyao, Zhejiang Province. As a renowned supplier of high-end fur products in China, Ms Cao has more than 20 years of experience in the industry and has witnessed the emergence, development, decline and transformation of fur industry in China.
At the beginning of interview, Ms Cao talked about the distribution of the fur industry in China and the history of the industry in modern times. She emphasized that China is the largest producer and consumer of fur products while the largest production and processing base for fur is currently located in Yuyao, where her factory is located, as well as in the north-east, Hebei and Guangdong Province. For historical and climatic reasons, fur has been in demand in most parts of China (mainly northern and central China), both for its physiological needs in cold climates and for a long time as a symbol of the Chinese people’s social need for luxury and prestige. China’s contemporary fur industry is largely brought up by Hong Kong businessmen after the reform and opening up, by the Hong Kong capital in Guangdong to set up a number of fur enterprises for the Chinese fur industry has laid a solid foundation. Then it is the continued development of Zhejiang and Hebei and reached today’s scale.
Ms Cao believes that today’s fur industry has reached a watershed, when the kind of blowout development is gone, replaced by a more refined competition in the industry and a strong demand for new materials and new technology. As a senior practitioner, Ms Cao understands the huge challenges of environmental protection and animal protection for the industry. From the perspective of the industry as a whole, the current industrial chain is particularly polluted in the dyeing and calibrating process. There are also ethical sores in the raw material extraction process. This state of affairs has led to a vicious circle and a steady decline in the industry. Despite the tough situation in the industry, Ms Cao expresses her determination and confidence in the transition, as she believes that the demand for fur products has not fundamentally changed, and that as long as the industry is able to meet the popular demand for environmental protection and animal protection in the future, the industry will be able to usher in a return to growth. Her company is cooperating with more dyeing factories that have new technologies, aiming to reduce the negative environmental impact of the industry chain. At the same time, they are also committed to new material research cooperation, hoping that in the near future, the use of fur materials that do not harm animals and have natural properties will be possible.