Tauranga-based Douglas Creek, the developer of world-first natural fibre Cervelt, was this month named as a finalist in the BNZ Bay of Plenty ExportNZ Awards. It was the latest of a number of significant achievements for company founder Bert McGhee, his team and backers in what has been a 12-year odyssey to bring a unique product to market.
"It wasn't a walk in the park," said Mr McGhee. "The problem when we started off was that it was impossible to get any advice in New Zealand, because nobody had ever tried to bring a fibre like ours into the market."
Douglas Creek spent eight years perfecting the process of turning the fine down winter coat of the New Zealand red deer into a luxury textile fibre (see sidebar), and has since sold the yarn to a number of luxury fashion houses, including Hermes and LVMH.
But, being innovative isn't enough, said Lionel Crawley, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise customer director for the North Island, who has followed the Douglas Creek story for many years.
"No matter what quality of innovation you've got, building a brand in that kind of market is such a massive challenge," said Mr Crawley.