Lochore co-op gets rival in strong-wools sector

A Dannevirke businesswoman gathering support for a strong-wools company to rival the grower cooperative launched by former All Black Brian Lochore says the two groups are taking different perspectives.

Mavis Mullins, a former wool-classer trying to set up a whole new structure for marketing the country's coarse wools, said her group had had discussions with Growerco, the Wool Board-backed group Sir Brian heads, which is trying to secure supply of about 50,000 tonnes of strong wool.

"Neither of us has closed the door but we are coming from different perspectives," she said.

"They are looking at it from the perspective of getting the supply of wool committed.

"We are looking at it from a different philosophical basis. We are about the business of interior decor ... That is what we are part of."

Wool had been undervalued and underplayed, but its time was coming again, said Mrs Mullins, who is working with farmers Tom Atchison and Donald Cooper to create the "strong-wool consortium", soon to be given a commercial name.

The three have linked with the biggest woolbroker, Wrightson, carpetmaker Feltex, Dannevirke-based East Coast Wools Co-operative and the Federation of Maori Authorities, which has extensive agri-business interests.

It plans to develop links between growers and processors, adding value along the way.

Mrs Mullins said a direct "line of sight" between grower and processor was the key to better profits.

"The 'let's grow it and they'll buy it' approach is flawed. In the late 1980s we saw wool stockpiled because of that approach," she said.

"It's about growing wool for a specific end-use, rather than just growing it for the sake of it.

There would be a relationship between farmer Smith and carpet manufacturer Jones: "The producer works to give the manufacturer what is required and the manufacturer can integrate this line of sight into marketing."

Wrightson, which pulled out of the Wool Board's original proposal for a farmer-owned strong-wools company, is still discussing details of Mrs Mullins' planned rival structure.

She and her husband, shearer Koro Mullins, built the family business, Paewai Mullins Shearing, into one of the biggest contracting firms in the North Island.

"It made us realise we weren't just in the shearing business. We were significant players in the wool industry," she said.

"As contractors, we can have a huge impact on the preparation of the wool and down the line right to the final carpet manufacturer."

Day-to-day running of the shearing business is largely in the hands of son Tuma but Mrs Mullins is still responsible for quality assurance and gets called on to help with wool handling at times.

- NZPA