Glenn Barrett, Founder & CEO Of OrthoLite Talks Insoles, Sustainability & 500 Million Pairs A Year !

Founded in 1997 OrthoLite is the undisputed category leader. Today they’re the insole supplier of choice for over 350 leading footwear brands—manufacturing OrthoLite technologies that can be found in more than 500 million pairs of footwear a year. If you're in shoes or boots there's a good chance you're standing on  an Ortholite insole. The company's founder and CEO taled to SIN about his journey fromk a start up to suipplying 350 of the world's leading footwear brands.

SIN:It seems that there's a good chance most people reading this have their feet resting on an OrthoLite insole, tell us how you started, who was your first client? 

Glenn: After a lifelong career in the footwear industry as an entrepreneur, I started OrthoLite in 1997 because I saw a need in footwear that had long been overlooked. Prior to the start of OrthoLite, no one had addressed the interior environment of the shoe. I was on a sourcing trip in Taiwan and was introduced to an innovative new open-cell PU foam that was the ideal technology to solve the problems occuring inside of the shoe. I realized it would be the perfect insole solution because it outperformed other materials in every measureable way. Before OrthoLite, insole materials were generic, commodity foams - a basic filler material that didn’t breathe, flattened out quickly, and caused sweat and odors to accumulate.

 We went after Running footwear brands first because I knew that if we could break into the performance running category and get adoption from these leading brands that it would give us credibility in other markets.Our first clients were Asics and Nike.

What barriers did you encounter?

The biggest barrier we faced was that we were virtually unknown in the industry in 1997. We were introducing a brand new technology - and it was really the first time that anyone had addressed the comfort on the side of the shoe - so just getting in the door to meet with footwear brands was difficult.

What was your big break, what was the event that moved OrthoLite into the big time?

I’m a big believer in the harder you work, the luckier you get. We proved ourselves by providing a superior product and by aligning ourselves with the biggest running shoe brands in the industry. And almost at once, OrthoLite foam captured the attention of the leading brands in the footwear industry and we had a hit on our hands. Footwear suddently had gotten much more comfortable.

Which are your biggest markets, where do you see the biggest potential for growth for OrthoLite?

Our biggest markets currently include running, performance athletic and outdoor performance footwear (including technical hiking footwear).

Specifically for the outdoor market, we see great opportunity to expand which led to our latest innovation - our new O-Therm thermal insole technology which sets a new standard in cold-weather footwear protection. O-Therm is the world’s first and only aerogel-inflused, open cell PU foam. O-Therm offers all of theknownbenefits of OrthoLite open cell PU-foam, while combining the world’s lightest and most insulative cold barrier protection. This technology is only possible with O-Therm’s proprietary aerogel’s unmatched thermal properties and is unrivaled in any other footwear offering. For the consumer, this means your feet will stay warmer, you can stay outdoors longer, feel more comfortable, perform better and go farther in cold weather conditions.

Looking back, what would you have done differently?

One thing I would have done differently would have been to open our own factories sooner. We are now a vertically integrated company which enables us to align our production facilities to locations where our brand partners’ shoes are produced. However, we didn’t open our own factory until 2009. We currently own our own factories in China, Vietnam and Indonedia, which allows us to innovate in the way that we need to and better serve our brand partners.

Your OrthoLite O-Therm is a real innovation, do you see applications for this technology outside of insoles?
Yes. O-Therm is a 2mm base-layer thermalfoam that can be combined with a wide range of OrthoLite top-layer foams to create a custom insole solution tailored to a broad range of footwear categories, including: outdoor, casual, work, ski and snowboard, casual and fashion, and other cold weather footwear categories. The innate thinness and moldability of O-Therm also makes it an ideal thermal barrier solution for footwear linings and strobel layers—bringing unsurpassed cold block technology without adding bulk or weight.

our Impressions insoles offer custom fit, do you see yourselves exploring this category further?
OrthoLite Impressions provides immediate step-in comfort and molds for a customized fit over time. Impressions contains our highest percentage of bio-oil (50%) derived from the castor plant, and the exclusive formulation is specifically designed to mold to the shape of the foot over time for a truly custom fit.

Brands are asking for more sustainable solutions and not so much for memory foam. Between our Impressions formulations and our foam called OrthoLite Lazy we believe we are in a good position with our memory foam category at this time.

What are your hero products for this season, what are your innovations for 21-22?

O-Therm is our hero product and our most significant innovation released so far in 2021. We have a new insole technology specifically targeting work and service footwear that requires ESD protection that will be released later this year.

In our innovation pipeline, we will soon be unveiling a brand new sustainability solution that will transform the way the footwear industry defines sustainable materials and process.

Performance footwear is now offering more bespoke fitting options and how will OrthoLite accommodate that trend?
We are a B2B brand and consumer facing through our brand partners. We offer customized footwear solutions by working in close collaboration with our 350+ brand partners.

I'm sure that there will be questions we've missed, if you want to add anything please feel free.

We are incredibly excited about our new O-Therm innovation, and especially how it could transform footwear for snowsports.

As an innovation company, we are committed to the development of more sustainable comfort and performance footwear solutions.