‘Eco-friendly’ attracts a new generation to wool
Already the largest supplier in the world of Merino wool for clothing, AWI believes Australia is well placed to capitalise on the growing global demand for eco-assured products.
Consultant to AWI Dr Paul Swan says the eco trend is changing the industry, and is being driven by consumers back through the pipeline. Environmentally assured garments are one of the largest trends to hit the fashion scene in a long time.
Recently completed AWI studies of consumers and retail trends suggest that the ‘green’ movement is not a ‘fad’ but a major change in consumer behaviour. According to a recent AWI-funded survey of 22,000 consumers in 10 key consumer markets, about two-thirds of those disposed to buy wool apparel prefer natural or organic-fibre products. They represent 31 per cent of all consumers.
A second study of key trends in consumer behaviour showed that a number of the major trends potentially favour demand for wool – showing, for example, that consumers are increasingly focused on the purchase of affordable luxury items, and personal health and wellbeing, and make conscious purchase decisions.
“Eco-friendly and organic garments are going mainstream,” Dr Swan says. “Marks & Spencer and Wal-Mart, two of the world’s largest volume-retailers, have announced they will move to an ecological stance in garment purchasing, and we are seeing strong interest from wool processors.
“Australia can grasp this opportunity – we have a great ‘natural’ story to tell, provided we can communicate this through the pipeline to wool consumers, and provided growers can respond to the growing demand for environmentally assured wool.
“Already 39 per cent of Australian Merino wool sold at auction would meet the European Union Ecolabel standards, as we discovered in the wool-residue survey we completed in December 2006. That 39 per cent represents 130 million kilograms of Australian Merino wool. However, at present, less than one per cent of the clip is sold with organic or EU-Ecolabel certification.”
Organics and eco-wool aside, Dr Swan says there is opportunity to promote the natural attributes of Australia’s wool-growing environment: “Australian Merino wool is produced in a natural, free-ranging environment. AWI, government agencies and non-government organisations provide information, programs, group workshop and incentives for wool producers to maintain the natural environment’s health. This has resulted in thousands of hectares of native-tree plantings, the fencing-off of native bushland for biodiversity, elimination of higher-toxicity farm chemicals, zero chemical use in waterways and farmers learning and participating in natural resource management projects.”
AWI has decided to invest in this sector to ensure Australia captures the growing demand for environmentally assured apparel wool, and since July 2006 has been working with a number of organisations involved in the handling, testing and marketing of the Australian clip to ensure that this occurs.
AWI will provide supply-chain support for processors and retailers, including technical information and market intelligence, a database of Australian suppliers of certified environmentally assured growers and processors, and support for product development and marketing.
More information: www.merinoinnovation.com
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