Another good news story that involves new uses for wool is just what the industry needs, as it fights its way out of the price doldrums it has been in for years.
These stories and partnerships have been filtering through the industry all year, and are starting to instill a renewed confidence into wool as natural sustainable product.
Wool Partners International will need all the good stories and the price levels to be maintained if it is to have a successful capital raising prospectus that could cost farmers $5000 per farm.
There is momentum with wool but will the industry grab this opportunity with both hands and secure long term sustainable prices that will rekindle farmer pride back into this product.
A company co-founded by Gisborne woman Sally Shanks has developed an innovative new fabric blend of NZ wool and recycled coffee sacks that will be used in Starbucks chains around the globe. Trademarked as WoJo, the fabric is a blend of 70 percent wool woven with jute fibres from Starbucks coffee sacks, and was unveiled in London early this morning as part of UK Wool Week.
The Formary, which she founded with Wellington-based business partner Bernadette Casey, has signed a deal with Starbucks to reupholster most of its stores outside the United States within five years. Starbucks and The Formary have together received the Sustainable Product Innovation award at UK Wool Week, in recognition of an innovative concept that showcased the natural, sustainable benefits of wool to the world.
“We have been working with Starbucks for 18 months now to create WoJo, and are continuing to work together on a number of other recycling initiatives.“What WoJo proves is that when businesses are willing to innovate and make a sustained commitment to their environmental mission they can make a real difference,” she says. It is certainly big news for Wools of New Zealand, which has an exclusive deal to provide the wool for WoJo reports Stuff.
Thom Breslin, director of design, Starbucks UK and Ireland said the unique production process overcame previous technical barriers that would finally enable them to use reuse their sacks.
2 Comments
Here here Kunst, Nice to be on the same side for once.
WPI are on the right track and I hope they can get the support they need. Unfortunately it will involve abit of a golden handshake for PGW and no doubt the usual farmer politics will kick in but I think if we get to bogged down in the detail we could miss a great opportunity to leverage off a revival in the fortunes of wool.
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