Action group ready and wooling

Strong Wool Action Group Chairman, Rob Hewett says the group is confident of achieving its goals by the end of the year.

Rob, who is also Chairman of Farmlands Co-operative, says the group was created following the release of the ministerially-sponsored Project Action Group (PAG) report into strong wool. He says when commissioning the report, the Ministry for Primary Industries had identified there was a chronic longstanding issue in strong wool in terms of profitability – a cycle that needed to be broken. “Two objectives came out of the PAG Report – how do we create consumerfocused product opportunities – and how do we bring those to life,” he says. “We know broadly what is going on inside the farm gate, although there is certainly opportunity to improve things there as well. We need to know where we can lend support, increase standards and training – and put someone over the top of this.” The special interest group has been given the ability to operate for up to 2 years, meaning by the end of this year it is expected to be completing its role in implementing change. Rob says the group includes a variety of related industries and sectors interested in strong wool. “The members work in the wider sector and rely on sheep to deliver results. For example, meat companies – which is where I come into it through my involvement with Silver Fern Farms. If farmers don’t have a compelling, strong wool offer as part of an overall sheep programme and if sheep meat prices fluctuate significantly in the future and wool isn’t pulling its weight, it gives sheep farmers another reason to plant their land in trees and once a farmer plants their farm in trees, it stays in trees. “The meat sector’s support of SWAG is purely a defensive measure to ensure sheep meat remains relevant for pastoral farming and relevant for the meat sector.” SWAG aims to bring the PAG Report to life through identifying opportunity around consumer-focused product offers. Given SWAG is not an industry group body, SWAG will consult stakeholders but still has the independence to make decisions and act on them. “We’re acting in the best interests of the strong wool sector – we’ll get on with it. We want to take people with us but the time for sitting round and waiting for everyone to agree has gone,” Rob says. “The wide endorsement of SWAG activity through industry funding from meat companies and participants from all of the wool value chain, from farms, scours, test houses, exporters and research centres indicate the time for change has come. MPI is backing this up with a significant investment in SWAG activity as well.” SWAG has engaged with San Francisco based consumer insights company, Ideo to work directly with consumers in the United States to provide insights and research. Results from this research are due back at the end of March. “We are also investigating what is going on in the world of manufacturing innovative strong wool products right here in New Zealand,” Rob says. “What we want is a group of up to 20 consumer focused projects that have the potential to be developed further. We will use a rigorous

process to whittle them down to half a dozen and take them to MPI with our commercial partners. MPI are interested in potentially investing alongside commercial entities in these opportunities. “We want wool to be worth more to the farmers who produce this great product. SWAG is not an owner of any IP, we are just a catalyst looking to identify and turbocharge the right strong wool opportunities for the betterment of the sector. “SWAG is here for a good time, not a long time. Interestingly, wool is showing potential for a bit of a consumer renaissance at the moment. With COVID-19 and the inability to travel offshore, there are a lot of home renovations going on and many of these consumers have increased their interest in wool, as have retailers,” Rob says. “I’m very optimistic. As farmers, we can’t sit back and moan about how people around the world can’t see how good a product strong wool is and that they should just buy it. Until the industry re-frames the story to one of where the consumers’ problems and concerns around health, safety, pollutants and sustainability are solved by consumer-driven products that just happen to be based upon strong wool ingredients, we’re not going to crack this. However, COVID-19 has opened the door for this discussion and we need to take the opportunity and work together in a co-ordinated, responsive way to make it happen. “Together, we’re confident we can pull all of this together.”

| SWAG is looking to identify the right strong wool opportunities for the betterment of the sector.