U.S. soy is available in Skechers footwear thanks to their collaboration with The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company.  Select Skechers styles across multiple categories for men, women and kids will utilize Goodyear rubber technology that contains a special polymer including sustainable soybean oil—a renewable, biobased material used in some of the company’s top-performing tires.

“U.S. soybean growers are pleased to see this multiplier effect growing from their own collaboration with Goodyear through the soybean checkoff,” said United Soybean Board Director Ralph Lott, a New York soybean farmer. “USB worked with Goodyear to support their innovation with U.S. soy that is now available in four lines of Goodyear tires. We are excited consumers have a new choice for performance as well as sustainability with U.S. soy in a range of Skechers footwear.”

USB supported Goodyear research that discovered that soybean oil could improve tire flexibility at low temperatures, helping the rubber to remain pliable in cold weather and enhancing traction in rain and snow simultaneously. Additionally, Goodyear discovered that soybean oil mixes more easily with rubber compounds and reduces energy consumption, which improves tire manufacturing efficiency. These revelations have led to increased performance in Goodyear tires containing soy as evidenced by strong third-party ratings and reviews for each line.

Skechers outsoles use this same technology to deliver increased grip, stability and durability.

“This collaboration is an example of two trusted brands coming together to create a high-tech product that will truly benefit our consumer,” said Michael Greenberg, president of Skechers.

“Goodyear has always worked to create innovative products that provide consumers with high-performance tires, and now we’re using that same ingenuity to enable consumers to wear high-performance shoes,” said Christian Jurado, Goodyear’s global director of licensed products.

Initially launched on three running shoes from the Skechers GOrun collection, the range of styles featuring Goodyear Performance Outsoles now includes a wider assortment of running and walking sneakers and will expand through 2020 to athletic lifestyle, trail, and work footwear categories for men and women, as well as kids’ styles. In addition, Skechers Work styles for safety and comfort on the job are currently in development for launch later this this year.

Source: United Soybean Board, which is solely responsible for the information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.