FACING A FRESH CHALLENGE
KERRIE Richards made her first face mask in January, now her clothing company, Merino Country, is pumping out almost 1000 a day.
To cater for demand, the company has boosted its workforce from six to 14 since the start of the year.
The 27-year-old family business has never been busier, with masks now accounting for 70 per cent of sales.
She anticipates long-term demand for the product.
“That is probably why our masks are selling really well, because people are looking for something that is comfortable, breathable and reusable,” said Ms Richards, who owns the woollen apparel manufacturer with her husband, Malcolm Pain.
The company makes two types of masks: a three-layer merino wool mask and a cotton mask with a merino wool filter in the middle. They are being tested for particle and viral filtration efficiency in a United States laboratory.
The same lightweight and soft-to-touch merino fabric is used across the company’s range of about 50 products, which includes thermals and its popular Wundies brand of underwear.
It also uses a heavier weight merino fabric.
“We are not into fashion but we are into good essential basics,” said Ms Richards, whose brother Glen founded Greencross Vets.
Ms Richards said the business noticed a boost in April and May when customers were chasing Australian-made products.
Merino Country uses Australian merino wool which is spun and cleaned overseas.
It has the yarn knitted and dyed to its specifications in Australia and makes the finished garments at its Shailer Park factory in Logan, south of Brisbane.
The company this week filled an urgent order of thermals for the Victoria Police.