Inner Workings

OrthoLite, the world’s leading supplier of insoles, posted its second straight year of record sales.

THROUGH ONGOING PARTNERSHIPS with 500 brands, OrthoLite supplied insoles for a record-breaking number of shoes (more than 600 million pairs!) in 2022. Turning 25 last year, the company marked the milestone by continuing to innovate and expand production capacities across the globe. In short, OrthoLite kept on being OrthoLite.

The company’s ability to develop new formulations to help brand partners set their insoles apart in terms of comfort, performance, and sustainability has been integral to its long-running success. The innovation highlight of 2022 was OrthoLite Cirql, the world’s first circular foam material solution for footwear components. The material effectively replaces harmful plastics, like EVA, with a 100-percent biodegradable alternative without compromising comfort or performance.

Another key selling point for OrthoLite has been its capability to mitigate brand partners’ supply chain risks with an expanding global manufacturing footprint. That includes six owned-and-operated, vertically integrated factories. Three of these factories are undergoing Higg Materials Sustainability Index verification, which is designed to compare the environmental impact of different materials so manufacturers can make eco-friendly choices.

Here, OrthoLite founder and CEO Glenn Barrett details some of the inner workings that fueled another banner year. —Bernadette

Starzee

How was business in 2022, and how did it compare to 2021 and prepandemic? In 2021, we set new records in terms of pairs supplied globally, but we also achieved record-setting delivery key performance indicators during extremely challenging market conditions. In 2022, we retained this momentum through the ongoing support of our brand partners as we expanded our product capacities across all regions. We once again exceeded overall budget expectations, and we also achieved a consecutive record-setting year by supplying over 600 million pairs of shoes with OrthoLite in 2022. This growth was driven by our continued collaboration with 500 of the leading global footwear brands. We’re extremely grateful for their support, and our current growth trajectory is a testament to the trust these brands have placed in our company, in our technologies, and in our operations.

What were some key product highlights of the year? Operating sustainably has been central to our DNA since our founding. Since day one, every OrthoLite insole has contained a minimum of five percent recycled rubber. We keep striving to find new formulations that deliver sustainable comfort and performance. Our innovation story in 2022 was led by the introduction of OrthoLite Cirql, the world’s first circular foam material solution for footwear. The patented foam material offers an EVA-free, scalable, and truly circular material to OrthoLite’s brand partners and factory stakeholders beginning this year.

We’re also very proud to launch specialty innovations for our brand partners with O-Therm, the first and only insole technology that creates a thermal barrier and elevates footwear temperature regulation through infusing open-cell polyurethane foam with our proprietary aerogel. New product innovations—including ESD Shield, HybridPlus-Recycled, and HybridPlusBio—enabled us to continue to offer our brand partners the solutions they need to differentiate their products.

In addition to great product, what were some other successful brand initiatives introduced in 2022? We’re very proud of the fact that we continue to strengthen our global footprint and local-for-local manufacturing strategy with our six owned-and-operated, vertically integrated factories, which deliver consistency, quality, capacity, and speed to market for our brand partners worldwide. In 2022, we expanded our European factory presence by opening a larger facility in Almansa, Spain, which now gives us a hub for our European-based brand partners. We can deliver localized solutions, more capacity, best-in-class sustainable manufacturing processes, and speed to market—all of which mitigate the risk our partners navigate daily in their businesses. From Spain, we can deliver to any point in Europe within two to four days. Similarly, we expanded our global footprint in Asia, one of the premier footwear manufacturing regions in the world. OrthoLite India is now fully operational and ready to further expand local capacities to meet the needs of our brand partners. Our new, stateof-the-art manufacturing facility catalyzes local-for-local production and service, while also ensuring an important layer of risk mitigation for our global brand partners, as well as for India’s leading domestic brands. What was the toughest challenge faced in 2022, and how did you overcome it? The biggest challenge has been the constant adjustments managing and planning for the production migration that we have seen over the last 12 to 24 months. Brands are moving production allocations across numerous regions to avoid supply chain or other pandemic issues. Having both the largest global footprint and overall capacities has enabled OrthoLite to provide the necessary layers of risk mitigation to our brand partners. These significant investments into additional capacity expansions, production redundancies, automation, recycling, sustainability, and other efficiencies has paid dividends for both OrthoLite and the brand partners putting their trust in us. Despite the supply chain woes and other related disruptions, we’ve been able to provide the consistent local-for-local delivery expectations demanded of OrthoLite across all the major regions. Being vertically integrated and owning the means of production gives OrthoLite a distinct leadership advantage that further positions us for success going forward.

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