Growers
Providing a strong voice and support for the sector.
New Zealand’s wool is long, strong, bright, white and grown with genuine care for the wellbeing of our animals, people and our land. Demand for natural materials is growing, opening new product, brand and consumer opportunities for your fibre.
Quality is there. Demand is there. What’s been missing is the connection between them. New Zealand Wool Collective helps connect what the market needs to what your wool offers so that the true value of your wool can be realised.
No single business in the wool supply chain can close that gap alone. That work has to happen collectively, or it happens inefficiently, if at all. After 20 years of underinvestment, that’s the gap New Zealand Wool Collective exists to close.
What we do — at a glance.
New Zealand Wool Collective’s six areas of work respond to what brands, brokers, exporters, wool handlers and growers believe can improve the value of wool and the health of the sector. They are an evolution of the work done previously by Wool Impact and Campaign for Wool NZ.
A positive and profitable future for wool.
Evolving global preferences
People are questioning plastics and their impact. There’s growing demand for natural alternatives.
Healthier indoors
A generation spends 90% of its time indoors. Wool improves air quality, reduces noise pollution and adds comfort to homes and workspaces.
Beyond the fibre
Wool particles, pigments and powders can displace plastic alternatives in products from printing to packaging to personal care.
Commercial innovation
Keraplast delivers wound healing, Lanaco’s filtration has been to space, Woolchemy improves hygiene products, Wool Source’s pigments displace synthetic dyes.
Domestic demand
Domestic brands expect their demand for wool to increase from 15,000 to 40,000 tonnes over the next five years.
Two thirds of the world’s quality strong wool
With world-leading expertise in genetics, farming systems and processing — and value-based models that reward growers fairly.
How does the Collective make wool more valuable for farmers?
How does New Zealand Wool Collective make wool more valuable for farmers?
Wool needs a strong voice, and a support organisation for the sector. Our job is to help commercial businesses to create more value from New Zealand wool. Value comes from greater demand for both our wool, and the benefits of the farm systems that it’s grown in.
By better understanding our markets we help wool businesses respond to market needs and make it easier to use wool. More is being asked of the value chain and fibre producers. We invest in proving New Zealand wool’s performance and ethics to help wool businesses build the case to buyers. A future of wool can only be secured if people know how to harvest it and understand how to use it. We invest in that capability.
How is New Zealand Wool Collective funded?
We’re currently funded by government through MPI’s Primary Growth Fund, by ASB, WoolWorks, Silver Fern Farms and some wool growers. This is not a sustainable funding model. Looking at ways to fund this activity in the long term is a logical next step for New Zealand Wool Collective.
What’s the Wool Alliance and how is it different to New Zealand Wool Collective?
Wool Alliance is not an organisation. It’s a partnership between New Zealand Wool Collective (formerly Wool Impact and Campaign for Wool NZ) and B+LNZ and Wool Research Organisation of New Zealand. The Wool Alliance is building the case for a wool organisation to undertake this work and for it to be funded long-term.
Is New Zealand Wool Collective focused on strong wool or all wool?
All wool. The foundational sector needs are largely common for strong, mid and fine wool.
Tell us what matters on your farm
Growers have a direct channel into how this work is shaped — and the final say: any levy goes to a formal referendum.