In December 2004, BOSS reported that after holding multiple protests on three continents and issuing a year-long warning to the Australian government, PETA re-launched an international boycott of Australian wool. This boycott was expected to have its biggest impact on fashion retailers and lower-end merino wool apparel manufacturers (See BOSS_0449).
Most of the merino wool used in the Bicycle, Outdoor and SnowSports industries – including products from Icebreaker, Smartwool, and Teko – is from New Zealand or Tasmania. This wool is generally higher quality and derived from smaller sheep farms usually around 10,000 sheep per farm instead of hundreds of thousands per farm as in Australia.
In conjunction with the boycott, PETA had listed two basic demands to ban live export of sheep for slaughter and to ban the practice of mulesing, which involves cutting away skin from the sheeps hind-quarters without sedation or pain-killers.
In an effort to push the merino industry away from these practices, Smartwool has signed a contract with its sourcing partners in New Zealand which provides several benefits for the sheep, the company, and the wool growers alike. The new contract covers a period of seven years, and has a total value “approaching” $30 million.
As part of this new contract, SmartWool has agreed to pay
a premium to its growers to reward them for their efforts to end the controversial practice of mulesing sheep by the end of 2005. The Australian and New Zealand wool industries recently established a goal of ending this practice by 2010. Smartwools communications manager, Gardner Flanigan told BOSS, “This isnt just one company saying, we are going to stop this practice. We are paying a premium to our growers to monitor their sheep more often and use more humane practices.” Flanigan also said that the company has been aware of the mulesing issue for about a year. “PETAs main issue is Australian sheep. We were aware of mulesing before PETA contacted us, and we told them that we were looking at ways to address the issue
We are also aware of two boats that left New Zealand with live sheep, but not one of our growers is involved in live export.”
The contract also provides the New Zealand wool growers with more certainty in the wool market. Smartwool has set a minimum price for the top-quality wool it purchases which is above the break-even price for the growers. “We want to grow our business, and this contract lets the farmers know this and plan for it,” said Flanigan. Chip Coe, president of SmartWool, has also been invited to speak at the International Wool Textile Organization in front of the largest gathering of wool producers in the world.
He will address at the event the issues and changes that this new contract addresses. “I wouldnt be surprised if five years from now this contract changes the merino industry,” said Flanigan.
