Hide Tanning

NORTHERN CO-OPERATIVE MEAT COMPANY LTD TRADING AS CASINO HIDE TANNERS

The Northern Co-operative Meat Company Ltd operates a tannery as part of its integrated processing service. Casino Hide Tanners is devoted to processing the Co-operative’s hides from green through to wet blue leather, as well as productions from other selected producers within the area. Established in 1975, Casino Hide Tanners (CHT) was one of the first tanneries in Australia dedicated to the tanning of cattle hides for export. Over the years, additions to the tannery have made it one of the larger installations in Australia, with the capacity to convert over 900,000 cattle hides each year.

Being on the same site as the abattoir all hides are received immediately after slaughter and put directly into production. Rapid receipt and prompt processing can mean technically better quality leathers for customers. Under a patented system, each hide is uniquely and individually identified. This enables the tracking of the origin and movement of every hide, from slaughter through to final destination. Sourcing of cattle purchases can be targeted to specific hide qualities and needs.

All hides are fleshed on arrival at the tannery, with weights prior to and after fleshing being carefully recorded. Using twenty-five tanning drums, hides are then loaded for de-hairing and eventual tanning. Different styles of hides can require different tannages. Each step of each drum’s process is carefully controlled and recorded, to ensure that the final product will consistently meet the exacting requirements of CHTs customers in Europe, Asia and South America.

After tanning, hides are graded to strict criteria under optimum conditions, by trained and experienced assessors. Damages to the grain of the hide caused by branding, insects, parasites and scratches are identified and used to determine the final allocation into one of eight quality categories. Casino Hide Tanners grading structure has been carefully designed to provide consistent and accurate hides which can be product specific for their potential end use, yet still allow for flexibility in order to meet a customer’s specific needs. Utilizing a state-of-the-art splitting operation CHT can also split hides and, when requested side hides to a customer’s pre-determined requirements.

Every drum load of hides is tested in CHT’s own laboratory for its various physical and chemical properties, ensuring that the high standards of its customers can be met and maintained. On completion of the production process and confirmation that all the physical properties are correct, hides are packed and labeled ready for shipment throughout the world. Modern computer systems, coupled with CHTs unique identification numbering, allows the opportunity for CHT to provide its customers with full data and complete traceability of their wet-blue hides, grains and drop-splits.

CHT prides itself on its environmental management practices. Casino Hide Tanners is dedicated to customer service and is focused on maintaining its high reputation worldwide.

At Casino Hide Tanners the hides are graded according to their quality and not necessarily according to their origin. CHT’s mission is to provide its customers with a consistent and reliable product which suits their needs. Each side of the hide is carefully assessed under stringent conditions and categorized into one of eight selections according to the quantity and nature of it defects.

A specifically designed in-house computer system allows the hides to be packed according to any number of combinations of the respective side qualities and weight categories. Casino Hide Tanners production is focused on first class machine pulled sources. CHT specifies a maximum 20% cuts in any one delivery, not separately packed.