A new company charged with resurrecting the fortunes of crossbred wool has issued a direct challenge to the traditional way New Zealand sells its strong wool.
Wool Partners International (WPI), a joint venture between rural servicing company PGG Wrightson and wool growers, claims already to handle 40% of New Zealand's annual production of 130 million kilograms of crossbred wool, but has a 60% share in its sights.
In doing so, it is challenging the traditional selling system where growers supply brokers with wool, which is then sold, usually at auction, to an exporter, and from there to spinners and manufacturers.
Wool exporters have mobilised to counter the threat from WPI, saying they are already doing the integrating marketing system proposed by WPI.
The fight has got dirty, exporters angry WPI was implying they were to blame for the drop in prices and that they were not acting in growers' best interests, while WPI has openly criticised selling methods.
However, the size of the challenge facing WPI and the wool industry, once one of our largest export earners, must not be underestimated.
Strong wool prices are less than half the level they were 20 years ago, and woollen floor coverings, where most of our strong wool is destined, represents a sliver of the world market: less than 2% and falling.
While nylon prices rose $US1 ($NZ1.75) a kilo in the year from mid 2007, wool rose just a few cents, an indication the market and demand for wool is vanishing.
Nylon is now 30%-40% more expensive than wool.
International wool prices have since fallen so low there have been unconfirmed reports that shearing costs in some cases exceeded the returns.
WPI's job has got even more difficult this year.
Prime lamb prices have nearly doubled, making wool even more irrelevant for sheep farmers.
Part of the reason for the fibre's demise was a decade of no investment in marketing or consumer education.
In a media presentation on Friday, WPI chief executive Iain Abercrombie said generations of people were growing up thinking petroleum-based nylon carpets were natural and were totally unaware that wool was a natural, renewable resource.
"Wool's time has come," he said.
Growing numbers of people were concerned about the environment and where products they bought came from.
He said they would welcome "wool's story", if they knew it.
He does not doubt the size of the challenge ahead of him, but said he had faith farmers would support his business by supplying wool to WPI's integrated marketing system.
Change was needed to the existing system, which he said isolated growers from what the market required and offered no promotion of wool at the point of sale.
WPI proposed offering growers three selling options: the auction, or wool exchange as he called it; contracts with exporters, or contracts with wool processors.
Wools of New Zealand, which has been a quality guarantee brand and provided technical support to processors, would have an extended role working to educate retailers about wool and its promotion.
He said the goal was to put growers in a stronger selling position.
Last October, when the New Zealand dollar lost US11c in a matter of days, he said Indian and Chinese customers reneged on contracts, but exporters were now back doing business with them.
"If we had been in a strong selling position, we would not have to deal with those customers again."
The key to achieving this position of selling strength was to unify growers, consolidate the clip, collaborate with the industry and be more innovative in the marketplace.
Mr Abercrombie cited the dairy and kiwifruit industries as an example of unified growers, and by consolidating the clip, he said growers would be in a stronger position.
Industry collaboration would reduce costs and improve efficiency.
Innovative marketing would see wool promoted and consumers told about the "luxurious, renewable fibre called wool".
Mr Abercrombie said farmers were initially being asked to support WPI, of which they own 50% through Wool Grower Holdings, through the supply of wool.
Within the next three months, they would be invited to buy shares in that company with the issuing of a prospective.
