Why Ethical & Sustainable Sourcing Matters

Long before Jacobs & Dalton became a sheepskin brand, sourcing was already part of our story.

Rooted in the Yorkshire countryside, our team brought decades of experience sourcing British hides and sheepskins for the tanning and wool textile industry when Jacobs & Dalton was founded in 2019. That experience taught us something important very early on: the quality of a finished product starts long before it is made.

It starts with the material itself. Where it comes from. How it is selected. The people involved along the way. The decisions made during processing and production. And, with animal-derived materials, how responsibly that resource is used.

These are the considerations at the heart of ethical and sustainable sourcing.

For us, the two ideas are closely connected, but they are not quite the same. Ethical sourcing considers the people, animals and practices behind a product, while sustainable sourcing looks more closely at environmental impact, natural resources, waste and long-term value.

Together, they encourage us to look beyond the finished product and understand more of the story behind the things we choose to bring into our homes.

Looking Beyond the Finished Product

When you pick up a sheepskin rug, slip your feet into a pair of slippers or choose something new for your home, you naturally notice the finished product first.

How does it feel? Is it well made? Will it last?

What you do not immediately see is everything that happened before it reached you.

Every product begins with a material. For Jacobs & Dalton, that means working with hides, sheepskin, wool and leather, materials our team has spent decades sourcing, assessing and understanding.

Our Yorkshire roots have kept us close to these materials and to the industries surrounding them. Sheepskin is not simply something we chose because it looks beautiful in a home, it is a material we know well, and that experience has shaped the way we think about quality and responsible sourcing.

Because where a material comes from is only the beginning.

Once selected, it may need to be cleaned, tanned or otherwise processed, manufactured, finished, packaged and transported before it becomes the product you eventually bring into your home. Each stage has its own considerations, from animal welfare and working practices to the use of water, energy, chemicals, packaging and transport.

That is why we believe responsible sourcing needs to look at more than the finished product.

It is not as simple as declaring one material "good" and another "bad", or assuming that a product has no impact simply because it comes from a natural source. What matters is the wider context: where the material came from, why it was chosen, how it was processed and what happened to it along the way.

Our experience with raw materials was one of the reasons Jacobs & Dalton was created in the first place. We believed that combining direct knowledge of the materials with an understanding of the craft behind the finished goods could result in better products.

That same principle still shapes how we think about quality today.

British hides and sheepskins are sourced from government approved abattoirs across the UK. Most of our suppliers are also approved by major supermarkets and hold Red Tractor certification, so animal welfare and quality standards are built in from the very first stage.

From there, sheepskins are transported to our sister site in Mid-Wales, where they are preserved with salt, inspected, graded and palletised ready for the tannery. This site holds APHA and DEFRA approval for the collection and export of hides and sheepskins.

Our tannery is fully audited and holds certifications including OEKO-TEX and Woolmark, with every stage of processing controlled to strict industry standards.

We also source raw material from New Zealand, chosen for its quality and for the country's well established ethical farming practices and animal welfare standards.

When we talk about having full control over sourcing, this is what we mean: knowing exactly where our hides and sheepskins come from, the standards our suppliers hold, and the journey each material takes before it reaches the tannery. Once a material moves into manufacturing, we work with a carefully selected manufacturing partner to bring each design to life, chosen for their ability to meet the standards we set and maintain the quality our materials deserve.

Looking at the Bigger Picture

We love natural materials. It would be rather difficult to build a sheepskin brand if we didn't.

But being natural does not automatically make something sustainable. A material still has a journey behind it, and understanding that journey means looking beyond what it is made from.

Where was it sourced? How was it processed? How far did it travel? How long is the finished product likely to remain useful? And what happens when it eventually reaches the end of its life?

Sheepskin is a good example of why this wider context matters.

Sheepskins are generally a by-product of the food industry rather than animals being raised solely for their skins. Using the hide allows an existing natural material to be turned into something useful, comfortable and long-lasting rather than simply going to waste.

That is an important part of the sustainability story, but it is not the whole story. Animal welfare, sourcing, processing, manufacturing, transport and longevity all need to be considered too.

For us, that is what responsible sourcing is really about: looking at the bigger picture, understanding where materials come from and making thoughtful use of the resources already available to us.

It is also why simple labels such as "natural" or "synthetic" rarely tell you everything you need to know. What matters is the context behind the material, the journey it has taken and the value it can provide over its lifetime.

Creating Things Worth Keeping

The story does not end once a product has been made and delivered. What happens afterwards matters too.

A product that is bought, used briefly and quickly replaced represents a very different pattern of consumption from one that remains part of a home for years.

This is where durability and care become part of the sustainability conversation.

We believe quality should be felt not only when something is new, but in how well it continues to serve you over time. Natural materials such as sheepskin can remain useful for many years when they are properly cared for.

That does not remove the resources used to produce them, but it can mean those resources continue providing value for much longer.

Cleaning something correctly, following appropriate care advice and avoiding unnecessary damage can all help extend its useful life. Our guides on how to hand wash a sheepskin rug and how to remove stains from a sheepskin rug are a good place to start.

The idea is simple:

Choose carefully. Use it well. Look after it. Keep it for longer.

For us, that is a far more meaningful way to think about sustainability than focusing only on the moment a product is purchased. We explored that idea in more detail in Can Luxury Be Ethical?

Trust Is Built Through Transparency

Words such as "ethical", "sustainable", "responsibly sourced", "natural" and "eco-friendly" appear everywhere.

Calling something sustainable is easy. Being able to explain why is what really matters.

Customers should have clear, useful information about the products they are buying. That might include where materials originate, how suppliers are selected, how products are made and what standards or requirements sit behind the claims being made.

This is where transparency and traceability matter. Transparency is about being open about sourcing and production, while traceability is about being able to follow or verify the journey a material has taken.

Recognised standards and certifications can provide further evidence where relevant, but a badge alone does not tell the whole story. What matters is that the claims a business makes have substance behind them.

At Jacobs & Dalton, transparency and trust are central to the way we want to operate. Our sourcing experience gives us a close relationship with the materials we use, and we believe that understanding more about where a product comes from helps customers make better-informed choices.

That does not mean turning every purchase into an investigation. But if a product is described as ethical or sustainable, it is reasonable to ask what sits behind that claim.

Better information makes those decisions easier. It also encourages businesses to understand their own supply chains more closely and be clearer about the choices they make along the way.

For us, that means being able to point to something real. Our suppliers carry Red Tractor certification, our Mid-Wales site holds APHA and DEFRA approval, and our tannery is certified to OEKO-TEX and Woolmark standards. Every product across our range is also OEKO-TEX certified, meaning it has been independently tested for harmful substances, including the stricter requirements that apply to products safe for babies and children.

A Product's Story Matters

Before a sheepskin reaches the floor beside your bed, becomes a favourite chair covering or keeps your feet warm on a cold morning, a series of decisions have already shaped what it has become.

The material had an origin. Someone selected it. It was processed, crafted, transported and eventually chosen by you.

Ethical and sustainable sourcing is not about pretending that products can exist without consequence. Every product requires resources, labour and energy somewhere along the way.

For us, it is about understanding that journey and making considered choices throughout it.

It means respecting the materials we work with, asking where they come from, thinking carefully about how they are used and being transparent about the decisions made along the way.

Because the quality of a product is about more than how it looks when it arrives.

Its story matters too.