By RICHARD PAMATATAU
New Zealand duvet suppliers ruffled by a Commerce Commission investigation into the down and feather content of their products are relabelling to avoid prosecution and fines of up to $200,000.
It means, though, that the thousands of expensive "100 per cent down" duvets bought at stores such as Farmers,
Harvey Norman and Briscoes to ward off winter chills may in fact contain significantly less down than stated on the label.
Commerce Commission fair trading director Deborah Battell said all of the manufacturers, importers and retailers of down and feather duvets had been notified of its position on "100 per cent" labelling. She said it could also apply to other bedware such as down pillows or down-filled sleeping bags and ski jackets.
The investigation fitted in with work the commission had done on fruit juice and leather products, Ms Battell said.
Glenn Alexander, managing director of Novadown in Dunedin, said it was about time labelling got sorted because New Zealanders were being ripped off buying inferior products.
He said there were no set industry standards, which made it easy for people to get away with misleading labels. Consumers were not aware of the various feather and down industry standards and just thought that a 100 per cent down label meant that.
But a voluntary code called AS2479 required a minimum down fill of 85 per cent for a label of 100 per cent.
Fairydown is relabelling all its duvets, which are made in China, to accurately reflect their contents.
Product manager Ginny Lovrich said the relabelling effectively meant that the days of the "100 per cent down" duvet were over.
It was impossible to have a 100 per cent down duvet because people had differing views on what was down and what were feathers.
Briscoes, Farmers and The Warehouse are forcing suppliers to relabel their duvets and in the interim have been informing customers about the content.
Briscoes chief Rod Duke said his company was working with the commission to make sure all its products were labelled correctly. Harvey Norman refused to comment.
