Burberry burned for more than 30 million euros of unsold

Burberry is under fire from critics. In its annual report, the British luxury house announced it destroyed products with a total value of 28 million pounds (31 million euros) last year, stating that the value of its unsold products increased by 50% in just two years, and sixfold since 2013. This destruction of part of the stock is equivalent to the disappearance in smoke of about 20,000 iconic trenchs of the famous brand. Of this total, some 10 million pounds (11 million euros) of cosmetics and perfumes were destroyed in 2017, an increase explained by the group by the sale of its beauty license to the American group Coty.

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To justify having burned their unsold, Burberry has put forward the protection of the brand. The destruction of products is widespread – both among large retailers and luxury brands – who see it as a way to protect intellectual property and prevent counterfeiting by destroying their inventories instead of selling them off cheaply.

90 million pounds destroyed in five years

The British press claims that more than 90 million pounds (more than 100 million euros) of Burberry products have been destroyed in the last five years. At a general meeting, one of the shareholders would have asked why the unsold copies were not offered free of charge to the private investors of the company.

Tim Farron, spokesman on the environment of the opposition party Liberal Democrats described the group's practice as "scandalous", saying "recycling is much better for the environment than burning to generate energy."

Burberry has defended criticism by baduring "With specialized companies that are able to recover energy from the operation" of destruction. "When we have to destroy products, we do it responsibly and we continue to look for ways to reduce and upgrade our waste," said a spokesman. The group posted a small increase in net income in 2017-2018, slowed by a sluggish sales that should continue in the next two years. The brand is now trying to strengthen its presence in the very high-end, while leading a redesign stores.

Before Burberry, it is the mark H & M which was pinned for having burned its unsold. The Swedish fashion giant has admitted to using this method for defective or dangerous products. The brand has thus burned 60 tons of clothes since 2013, at the rate of twelve tons of clothes per year. H & M had described these practices as "an absolute remedy".