The Laboratory

Every morning Dr. Stefan Kittlaus unlocks a state-of-the-art laboratory in BIRKENSTOCK’S production facility in Bernstadt, eastern Germany. The basketball court-sized lab was completed in March 2020 at a cost of over €4 million. Dr. Kittlaus was at the head of a team of eight expert scientists throughout the design and build phase. The goal was to create a facility where the rigorous analysis and evaluation of raw materials entering the BIRKENSTOCK manufacturing process would be possible – thereby ensuring that the final products meet the highest standards imaginable.

The work of Dr Kittlaus’s laboratory ensures that every element of Birkenstock’s production process meets the highest quality standards. He also oversees the brand’s long-running Risk Management programme, which focuses on a wide range of environmental and consumer protection issues. The relentless testing undertaken by the lab team ensures no material that doesn’t meet exacting specifications ever reaches the production line. Nothing is left to chance or opinion.

BIRKENSTOCK acted in advance of rigorous legislation imposed by the EU, leading the way with the creation of their own strategies to maintain the highest quality standards for customers and the environment. The laboratory's capabilities far outstrips base level standards of regulation, and has widened its net to search for previously ignored additives and potential toxins in the products used. One such category of additives are biocides. Biocides are used early in the leather production process to preserve the highly perishable, damp hides. Prior to tanning these hides are still ‘blue’ and are known in the industry as ‘wet blues’. Chemicals commonly used in these preliminary processes can be problematic as they don’t degrade. BIRKENSTOCK insists on significantly lower concentrations of biocide than the legal limits set by EU regulation.

Each batch of top quality leather delivered to BIRKENSTOCK is routinely tested, to ensure that specific requirements are being maintained. The technical procedure, which forms the core of our analysis, is always the same. First, a random sample is taken from every newly delivered batch. The sample is cut into a segment weighing precisely 2g, then placed in a flask containing solvents that extract each and every substance from the sample, including any potential pollutants. Once the individual ingredients have been extracted, a process called ‘mass spectrometry’ is used to analyse the molecular structure of each element that makes up tanned leather. This process precisely determines what is present, and whether or not it meets the strict guidelines set by the brand.

BIRKENSTOCK collaborates with its suppliers as a partnership. This creates a much more dynamic dialogue than exists in a traditional supplier- customer relationship. Should the lab team detect anomalies, a tried and tested process is in place to trace the source and remedy the situation without delay. Because of this dynamic relationship, supply-chain considerations can be examined effectively, so that when imperfections and problems do arise in the supplies material, the source of these problems can be identified quickly - and therefore solved effectively.

Birkenstock’s laboratory and Risk Management programme is at the core of the brand’s long-term vision. This guarantees that the BIRKENSTOCK vision of Naturgewolltes Gehen can move forward with the utmost integrity.