At Campaign for Wool, we’re all about celebrating the wins, and sharing the incredible innovation going on in the sector. But we also know just how hard it’s been for farmers, who struggle to cover the costs of shearing while the per kilo price for wool remains low. Our General Manager – Advocacy, Tom O’Sullivan, paints an honest picture of the state of the wool industry and explains why wrapping a brand around our amazing NZ wool product would help move it away from a commercial commodity to a consumer necessity.
Wool is sustainable, has properties that cannot be replicated by plastic, and is better for the planet than synthetic alternatives, so why is it almost worthless for farmers? Campaign for Wool general manager Tom O’Sullivan blames a lack of innovation, limited local processing capacity, and poor industry collaboration as reasons why there is low demand and price for strong wool.
O’Sullivan said a big problem was that strong wool was sold at auction to overseas buyers, but the industry lost track of where and how it was used after that. Treating it like a bulk commodity was part of the problem, he said.
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By Gerhard Uys, Stuff