Sustainable trainer brand Veja is nearshoring – or transferring its manufacturing from Brazil to Europe to reduce its carbon footprint and to build in more reliability.
Tacit transition
For almost two decades, all of Veja’s trainers were produced in Brazil, as the brand uses organic cotton from Brazil and Peru and wild rubber from the Amazon. Since last year, however, the brand has been making the switch to production in Europe: after a successful debut in the spring-summer 2024 collection, the V-90 model is now being made in Portugal in six different colours.
With what Veja calls ‘The Aegean Project’, the brand says it aims to establish a “new supply chain as responsible and transparent as in Brazil, but focused on the European market to reduce its carbon footprint and support local economies”.
Safely close to home
Nearshoring, or producing closer to your market, is a growing trend. It helps companies with their sustainability goals, as there is less transport needed and often better control over production conditions. Moreover, after the Covid pandemic and successive shocks in the global supply chain since then, building in more security is another important factor.
