Luxury Brand Hermès Breeds Own Crocs to Meet Demands

Humans live in an age where our demands are never satisfied. If society needs rice, humans grow rice and when a country is out of oil, a government digs for it in another country. Luxury brand Hermès has now taken ‘demand’ to another level by breeding their own crocodiles in Australia.

CEO Patrick Thomas of The Hermès Group said that it takes about 3 to 4 crocodiles to make 1 bag. Customers have to wait several years for their exotic leather bags to arrive after they have been ordered. Their iconic bag, The Birkin, has a 3-year waiting list.

Crocodile farming is expensive although it shouldn’t be a problem to the large luxury brand – one bag can cost up to 35,000 euros. Hermès makes about 3000 bags a year because each bag is fully hand crafted. Each reptile has to be kept in a separate room to protect their skins from bites. “We cannot face demand. We have massive over-demand. We are limited by our ability to train new craftsmen,” he added.

As we stare in the face of an increasingly overindulgent culture, when will humans learn that the consequence of demand overexceeding need is dire?

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