Wool deserves front seat in Air NZ advertising

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Opinion

Federated Farmers is puzzled why our national carrier is making a song and dance about an overseas-produced plant protein burger, but not the Kiwi company that supplies it with world-leading transportation fabrics.

Air New Zealand has been offering vegetarian options on their in-flight menus for a long time. The Impossible Burger available on Business Premier flights between Los Angeles and Auckland for a few months is just another option.

Other dishes feature New Zealand-made produce and farmers are confident passengers will always make a place on their plate, and in their heart, for our natural tasting, grass-fed beef and lamb. People come back to their tried and true favourites.

Air NZ prides itself on being innovative, and likes to partner with like-minded enterprises.

Farmers understand that — we do it ourselves. But why would our national carrier build an advertising campaign around a foreign product and not a cutting-edge Kiwi firm supplying a key component made from a natural, sustainable New Zealand product?

Inter-weave Ltd is a New Zealand-owned and operated bespoke wool upholstery and homewares manufacturer. It combines leading design and technology with luxurious naturally-grown, New Zealand wool fibres to produce high-quality, clean, anti-static, ethical textiles sold around the world.

The transportation fabrics Inter-weave supplies to Air NZ meet the highest flame retardant criteria. It is accredited with the Civil Aviation Authority and has Enviromark NZ diamond accreditation, the highest achievable in this programme.

Typical of products made from wool, the fabrics are beautiful, have excellent durability and will perform exceedingly well under constant wear. Wool fibres have elasticity that allow them to recover to their original shape even after being stretched over 30 percent.

It’s a great advertisement for New Zealand natural products, our farmers and an industry that is the lifeblood of rural communities, delivering a livelihood for thousands of Kiwi families.

Seated in nature, and a Kiwi product flying high. Sounds like a great basis for one of those cheeky and fun Air NZ advertising campaigns to me.

Miles Anderson, Federated Farmers Meat and Wool chairman