Wool Partners Road Show Drumming Up Support
March 6th, 2009
Theresa Gattung is winning support as she tours with the Wool Partners International road show, aiming to convince farmers to invest in a marketing co-operative part-owned by PGG Wrightson. WPI aims to usurp the decades-old auction system, connecting growers with end users via long-term contracts. Agriculture Minister David Carter says, “I don’t believe the auction system has served us at all well.” WPI “is the only show in town.”
Elders Primary Wools, a co-operative with 9000 members, has a venture with US carpet maker CCA Global Partners to produce luxury carpets marketed as sustainable and natural. A third group, the auctioneers, buyers and exporters, opposes the concept of a farmer-owned co-operative. The winds of change can’t come fast enough. NZ’s largest independent wool spinner, Oamaru-based Summit Wool Spinners, is considering applying for the Govt’s nine-day fortnight scheme because of a drop in orders. Some 80 jobs, about a third of the workforce, are on the line as a result of the downturn.
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