The crossbred wool industry has been given blunt evidence about the consequences of its hands-off promotion policy.
Wool exporter Segard Masurel managing director Peter Whiteman said that because wool had not been promoted, synthetic carpet producers had had input into building and safety regulations which seriously disadvantaged woollen carpets and furnishings.
The matter could be fixed, and the industry, through the International Wool Textile Association (IWTO), had employed a lobbyist to seek changes to regulations and to monitor such policies so it did not happen again.
"Since New Zealand and crossbred wool-producing nations stopped concerted promotion, these are the consequences we suffer by not spending the money," Mr Whiteman said.
Wool Partners International chief executive Iain Abercrombie recently provided similar evidence that synthetics were being promoted at the expense of wool, and gave one example where a lamb was used in advertising for synthetic carpet.
Mr Whiteman said the wool industry had been pushed aside by synthetics because the wool lobby did not have a presence in the market.
Synthetic producers were the only voice to be heard.
The head of Segard Masurel, Olivier Segard, said in a statement recently that synthetic carpet markers had convinced European authorities to write test standards in a way that made it difficult for wool to compete.
When floor coverings and upholstery were being considered for new hotels, libraries or hospitals, those choosing the items were more likely to use synthetics - products which met regulations that manufacturers had helped write.
Since farmers stopped funding promotion 10 years ago, no-one was telling of wool's attributes of being a fire-resistant and natural product.
"Today, your wool growers want better prices, but if there is no demand from the people who buy or specify woollen carpets, wool's market share will continue its downward price spiral and take with it the income for New Zealand farmers," Mr Segard said.
"There is no New Zealand-only answer. You cannot manipulate the price by holding wool back to create a worldwide scarcity, or going it alone with a new and unknown country of origin brand. This has been tried and failed in the past."
Mr Whiteman agreed that the solution had to be a crossbred wool industry approach involving New Zealand, Australia, Uruguay, Argentina, Britain and South Africa.
The enemy had to be synthetics and cotton, not other wool growers, he said.
Wool had such a small share of the market that if 1% of interior consumers worldwide switched from synthetics to wool, crossbred wool demand would double, underpinning a price recovery.