French footwear brand Veja has won a Product of the Year award in the 2020 ISPO Awards.
Veja was one of several honoured at an awards ceremony at the ISPO Munich 2020 trade show, which took place earlier this year at Messe München, in Germany.
The company was recognised in the Running Hardware category for Condor, one of the world's first 'post-petroleum' running shoes.
Designed for training and half-marathons for regular runners, the Condor is made from 53 per cent renewable and recycled materials.
It aims to use as little fossil fuel in production as possible, using raw materials such as rice waste, banana oil, natural rubber, castor oil and natural latex instead.
"For over four years we have followed the mission to produce the first performance running shoe without plastic and petroleum," said Sebastien Kopp, co-founder of Veja.
"The way there was hard and I sometimes felt like I was in a Formula 1 team, where you are under enormous time pressure and face almost insoluble technical challenges.This award shows how important sustainability is for the entire industry.
"It may be made from eco-friendly materials, but the Condor still aims to meet the highest technical standards and offers runners stability, comfort and control," Kopp added.
The award was decided by a jury panel, which said: "With the Condor Veja has made a step towards a more eco-friendly way producing sports shoes. At the same time the Condor does not sacrifice on functionality - on the contrary, Veja has proven that the usage of more sustainable materials is meeting the standards of up-to-date running shoes."
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