“Chinese manufacturers want to ensure they have a reliable source of high-quality raw natural supply, and our customers want to work in partnership with a company that is owned by New Zealand sheep farmers.”
China had a significant manufacturing capability to produce products at scale, McWhirter said.
“Through working in partnership with Chinese manufacturers who supply some of the big retail brands in the US and Europe, we can access the rest of the world and promote the New Zealand wool brand.”
McWhirter said there was also a significant opportunity to grow sales of New Zealand wool products among the growing number of affluent Chinese consumers.
“China is a big market itself, with 1.4 billion people, and incomes are rising steadily.”
He said Wools of New Zealand was working with a rug manufacturer to expand demand for wool rugs in the Chinese market.
Wools of New Zealand chief executive John McWhirter says China already purchases 40 to 50% of New Zealand’s strong wool.
“They are going into homes that have not traditionally had the product and connecting the natural wool product back to the New Zealand story and back to the farm.
“That is increasing demand.”
McWhirter said New Zealand strong wool was highly regarded internationally.
He said this is because it is “whiter and brighter, of consistent high quality and has a finer micron than wools from other countries, providing more scope for use of colour and a luxurious, comfortable feel for flooring”.
NZ Consul-General to Shanghai Ardi Barnard, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise regional director Chris Metcalfe, Consul Timothy Vaughan-Sanders, Chad Tustin, the Ministry for Primary Industries’ (MPI) interim deputy director general for China, and Mike Stephens, MPI special advisory for industry growth, attended the event on September 18.
Representatives from the Saibosi, Yangxin Ruixin and Anmao companies took visitors through a display of their products.
Mark Patterson, Minister for Rural Communities and Associate Minister of Agriculture, also met with representatives from Saibosi, Yangxin Ruixin and Anmao.
Wools of New Zealand was represented by Gloria Qi, head of China market, and Mark Greenlaw, the company’s national wool sales manager.