Friday, March 29, 2024

Kiwi carpets are going places

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Innovative yarn systems showcasing the unique characteristics of New Zealand wool are putting them on planes and into offices, shops and homes around the globe.
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Carrfields Primary Wool (CPWool) and NZ Yarn chief executive Colin McKenzie said the global marketing efforts of CPWool mean the humble sheep in the nearest paddock could be producing wool that is destined for some very high places around the world.

McKenzie said the innovative yarn systems of CPWool produce the unique characteristics of NZ wool that designers and customers love and that competitors find difficult, if not impossible, to replicate. 

“Our whole product innovation strategy is to purposely step off the commodity curve, to become global leaders in providing leading-edge woollen yarn for carpets and rugs.”

Through its subsidiary NZ Yarn, which spins wool yarn for use in carpets and rugs, Canterbury-based CPWool has supplied wool that is gracing the floors of the first class cabins on Emirates airliners.

Closer to the ground CPWool’s efforts are seeing NZ wool showcased on the world stage in several corporate headquarters in New York including carpets in the Wells Fargo, American Express, JP Morgan Chase, Time Warner and Chaincode Labs head offices. 

The London Stock Exchange’s New York outpost also features NZ wool soft flooring.

Further south weary corporate managers at the KPMG executive retreat in Orlando, Florida, are relaxing on NZ wool carpets while across the Atlantic CPWool is cushioning the feet of shoppers in the Tom Ford retail showroom in Milan. 

CPWool, representing 3500 sheep farmers around NZ, is the exclusive supplier of wool to NZ Yarn which spins it into yarn for use in the soft flooring industry globally. 

McKenzie said customers include soft flooring manufacturers who sell products via architects and interior designers. 

“We supply our yarn to carpet and rug makers who have connections into the custom design market for corporate offices, high-end homes and increasing numbers of private jets and luxury yachts. 

“This means NZ wool can end up in some very high profile places. 

“It’s a fantastic way to showcase the quality, beauty and versatility of NZ wool to a global audience.

“The carpet in the Tom Ford showroom in Milan is a very dense, plush pile product in rich hues. 

“The KPMG retreat features a replica of an intricate oriental design while the carpet used in corporate offices demonstrates how wool carpets can be robust and hard-wearing yet still beautiful,” McKenzie said.

One particular United States customer makes about 750 interior carpet sets for personal, business and private jets and yachts from NZ wool every year. 

A recent project by a CPWool customer is the refurbishment of the Mary Baker Eddy historic house in Boston, Massachusetts. 

The large, stately home was built in the 1930s and occupied by Eddy, who was the leader of the worldwide Christian Science religious movement.

The historic house is now being refurbished to its original condition, including the manufacture of bespoke NZ wool carpet.

“We are immensely proud to have contributed on behalf of our growers.

“CPWool yarn gives global soft flooring manufacturers a novel and differentiated material to work with that results in a simply stunning end product.”

The innovative yarn strategy has resulted in products that stand apart from the rest and leverage the huge opportunity to increase the size of the market for wool carpet among corporate and private consumers globally, particularly in the US. 

“North American consumers have traditionally been slow adopters of wool carpet with sales at low levels compared with those in NZ and Australia. 

“This opens up a significant opportunity to take NZ wool into the soft flooring market in the US and Canada as well as other markets including Europe and the Middle East,” McKenzie said.

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