German firms pull out as Chinese fluff teddy production

BERLIN (AFP) — In the end it was a sneaking suspicion that the eyes had lost their iconic melancholy look that made Steiff realise that if you want top-quality teddy bears, there's no place like home.

Before that it was the three-month wait for 80,000 cuddly white polar bears to arrive just as "Knut", Berlin zoo's real life star, was gracing the cover of Vanity Fair and demand was exploding.

For the German soft toy maker, which started life in the late 18th century before teddy bears were even called teddy bears, with a wheelchair-bound woman making elephant-shaped pincushions, trying to produce in China was no picnic.

In an effort to cut costs Steiff began outsourcing production to Chinese factories in 2004, and even sent 300 workers there to make sure the bears were up to scratch.

But this week Steiff called time ...