Deal Could Result in Boost for New Zealand Wool

Auckland, New Zealand, Oct. 6, 2010--A new deal with a European flooring distributor has the potential to absorb more than two million kilograms of New Zealand crossbred wool a year, according to the Otago Daily Times.

Wool Partners International said a marketing partnership with Headlam Group, Europe's largest flooring and carpet distributor, along with the planned relaunch next January of a Wools of New Zealand-branded carpet range, would create demand for 600,000 kilograms of wool in the first year.

"Further ranges will be developed and launched later in the year, building to an expected total demand of two million kilograms per annum, almost 2% of New Zealand's strong wool clip and equivalent to carpeting about 15,000 homes," WPI chief executive Iain Abercrombie told the newspaper.

The deal created a new market for New Zealand wool, displacing other countries.

Headlam was formed in the 1990s after a series of acquisitions, and employs 1,600 staff in the UK, France, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

Headlam and WPI will relaunch a carpet range known as Artwork, which has been colored and styled by Wools of New Zealand and its Centre of Wool Excellence at Ilkley in the UK.

Wools of New Zealand has also worked with Headlam on point-of-sale material to help retailers sell customers the merits of New Zealand wool carpet.