Wool still the 'biggest show in town' say marketeers

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 13, Issue 614, 28 November 1995, Page 15

Wool still the 'biggest show in town' say marketeers

Wools of New Zealand launched their new Fernmark brand earlier this year, explaining that the black and white fernleaf design above the words 'Wools of New Zealand' indicates that the wool product has met standards of quality amongst the most stringent in the world. Wools of New Zealand was previously the New Zealand Wool Board. "New Zealand sheep are stepping out from the global crowd. Only their wool will carry the Fernmark, from Wools of New Zealand, on products such as carpets and clothing the world over," stated John Grainger group marketing manager. They have compiled a list of things to surprise people about the New Zealand wool industry: • There are 20 million less sheep than the all-time high a decade ago. New Zealand now has 'only' 50

million sheep but each sheep is earning 1 8 per cent more than then. • The sheep industry (wool, meat and by-prod-ucts) is worth $3.5 billion in export earnings and is expected to exceed $4.0 billion by the year 2000. • The wool sector alone brings in $1.6 billion in export earnings. • One New Zealand job in 1 1 depends upon sheep (133,000 jobs). • Kiwis use 4kg of wool per man, woman and child, each year — almost three quarters of a sheep' s fleece. This makes us second only to Iceland in use of wool per head of population. • About one bale of wool goes into the average carpeted home of 100 sqm, the wool off the backs of anywhere from 25 to 40 sheep..

• The sheep industry is still the biggest show in town — $24 billion of capital is invested in New Zealand sheep farms and processing facilities compared to the New Zealand Stock Exchange total capital of $50 billion (August 1994) • After developing uses for sheep products ranging from condoms to tennis balls to lipsticks, scientists have discovered a new use for wool — to keep warm. Wool is now used as insulation for houses. • Sheep graze on 10.8 million of New Zealand' s total land area of 26.6 million hectares, and are spread over 20,000 farms. • Interior textiles end-uses (including carpet, bedding and upholstery) account for 55 per cent of the annual wool clip of 200,000 tonnes, with apparel end-uses taking the other 44 per cent.