North Face jackets made from feathers of force-fed geese Marcus Mueller of the charity Four Paws described the conditions the geese are kept in on foie gras farms as "hell for animals." He told The Sunday Times: "During the three weeks of forced feeding... geese are force-fed three times a day until they are sick to death. It is the worst kind of animal cruelty. The North Face started out in 1960s San Francisco as a mail order retailer of outdoor equipment such as sleeping bags, but its sales now top £900million a year and its fleece jackets and padded bodywarmers are now worn by public figures including Angelina Jolie and Cheryl Cole. In 2008 it was pointed out that many BBC journalists were wearing coats showing the distinctive North Face logo while on air, giving it free publicity. An online brochure published in 2010 stated that the down in North Face jackets and sleeping bags was taken from "the very best source - small family-owned farms in Hungary." It went on: "At no time are the geese live-plucked for their down. Along with banning live-plucking, force feeding - for foie gras - has been banned in the supply chain of The North Face down material for many years. The North Face uses down from grey geese in close to 100 products, which is supplied by another Californian company, Allied Feather & Down. This supplier is also used by another outdoor clothing label, Patagonia, whose executives travelled to Hungary at the request of animal rights groups to see the farms where the down was being plucked. "There was no doubt when we got there that these geese were used to make foie gras," said Steve Richardson, director of material development for Patagonia. It is now looking for an alternative supplier, as it The North Face, but may face difficulties as most down in Hungary comes from foie gras geese. The North Face said: "All of the down we are supplied by Allied Feather is a by-product of the food industry which, as the largest purchaser of goose product, drives the practice of force-feeding. We are working with our partners to identify alternative long-term sources of goose down that is not a by-product of force-feeding. A spokesman for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, which has led the campaign against British shops stocking foie gras, said: "There can be no justification for inflicting this kind of suffering when warm, cruelty-free synthetics are widely available."