Lifting wool returns," a goer "

Wool Partners International (WPI) chair Theresa Gattung has returned from a fact-finding trip to the US "˜fired up' at the prospect of lifting the market price of NZ strong wools. This can only be achieved by those in the industry working collectively, she says, adding that the WPI strategy to lift wool prices "˜is a goer'.  Gattung says she and the three SI woolgrowers who accompanied her on the two-week trip met with all the big carpet manufacturers reports Rural News. "˜We went to test the hypothesis whether we could get a better price for wool the "˜commodity' and the answer is yes we can. "˜We were also testing whether we could get a premium for the best wool by creating a brand and then partnering with manufacturers to get the best price. Gattung says one of the most interesting discoveries she made on the trip is that the US carpet and rug manufacturers acknowledge NZ strong wool is the best around."˜But we talked to a number of US carpet and rug brands about using NZ wool as a point of difference. Two-thirds of those meetings were extremely positive. Although there is no current established strong wool ingredient brand, there is potential to create a premium brand and a premium price for the best New Zealand wool linked to that brand. Which is exactly what WPI says it is doing.