Wool hopes hinge on US trip

South Otago farmer Howie Gardner has flown to Las Vegas and the world's largest flooring product trade fair as part of a strategy farmers hope will finally see a reversal in the declining fortunes of wool. Mr Gardner, a farmer director on Elders Primary Wool, will join management in presenting the company's new Just Shorn brand to about 150 flooring store owners in the United States, who are part of the International Design Guild (IDG) and, in turn, part of the CCA Global Partners buying chain. Elders Primary Wool launched the Just Shorn brand last year, and targeted it at carpet retailers, with the aim of increasing demand for a fibre, the prices for which have been falling steadily for the past decade reports The ODT. "This is our marketing strategy. We are focused at the retail end and will line up the rest to accommodate orders," Mr Gardner said in an interview. The New Zealanders will make presentations on the Just Shorn brand to retailer groups over two days at a CCA convention held before the Surfaces conference, which starts this week. Mr Gardner said the presentations would raise awareness ahead of the launch in June of branded carpet designs in the United States. "This is a key moment for us," Mr Gardner said last week.