Wool carpet makers notice expanding demand in New Zealand, US

AUCKLAND: The global pandemic has New Zealand wool carpet manufacturers spinning, as demand increases from customers here and in the United States.

Over the past decade, wool carpets have lost ground to synthetic floor coverings and national sales dropped from 80% of the market to only 15% now.

Godfrey Hirst general manager Andre May said some some growth was appearing because

international consumer research and product development companies to better understand consumerfocused market opportunities and how to reach those consumers.

MPI had also completed a domestically focused environpeople unable to travel were spending money on their homes.

Godfrey Hirst is New Zealand’s largest manufacturer of floor coverings, mainly carpets and mainly synthetic.

However, Mr May said postlockdown there had been doubledigit growth in wool carpet sales, with a recent ‘‘twomonth sales push resulting in a 30% growth, albeit off a very low base’’.

May said the firm’s large manufacturing site in Auckland was investing in new carpet

mental scan to give the group a better understanding on who was undertaking innovative work with strong wool in New Zealand.

Mr Caughey has been involved in the wool sector in New Zealand and internationally since designs, colours and styles, more machinery, and overcoming challenges like colour fastness.

Capacity at spinning and dyeing plants in Oamaru, Dannevirke and Lower Hutt was being increased.

Staff were working overtime to cope with workloads, and Mr May said, unlike the firm’s imported synthetic products that were being held up with the port issues, increasing volumes of wool were coming directly from New Zealand farms.

1988. In 2011, he founded Armadillo Merino, a global company specialising in advanced nexttoskin clothing for tactical operators and professionals operating in highrisk environments.

He attributed the support to

Flooring expenditure had gone up across all types of coverings, so some of wool’s increase in demand was coming from that he said.

‘‘In addition, we are seeing a sentiment coming in, people are looking to more sustainable fibres, more natural fibres, possibly more than they have historically, and so there’s a natural interest growing in that respect as well,’’ he said.

Interest was also coming from larger purchasers of carpets, including government departments although for com

several reasons; there was a ‘‘really high calibre’’ board, with a huge amount of talent.

Those people were not going to put forward their names and time if they did not feel they could make a demonstrable difference. With them came their mercial reasons he would not expand on that, but he said group home builders were also more in the market.

‘‘Private commercial entities that would build multiple dwellings as part of their business, we are seeing them now ask for ranges not only of synthetic products but also for ranges in a kind of good, better, best, format for wool as well,’’ Mr May said.

Godfrey Hirst also manufactures woollen carpets for the increasing United States market. — RNZ

networks of contacts, he said.

The group’s strategy was also very clear; it was demanddriven and consumerled. ‘‘We’ve got to move away from our traditional supplydriven strategy of pushing product into the market. We’ve done it for