Caughey has been involved in the wool sector in NZ and internationally since 1988 and in 2011 he founded Armadillo Merino, a global company specialising in clothing for tactical operators and professionals operating in high risk environments.
SWAG chair Rob Hewett says Caughey’s deep understanding of the wool market and business track record is a significant asset for the group.
“In Andy (Caughey) we have a leader that spans consumer branding and innovation as well as knowledge of what lies behind the farm gate.
“It’s an ideal mix of skills and experience relevant to what we need,” Hewett said.
The group held its first meeting on Friday with interested processors and exporters.
“It was a chance to take others through what we see as an opportunity to help galvanize the strong wool sector,” he said.
Collaboration and alignment with a wider vision for the food and fibre sector will be central to the group’s success.
The group talked through how it plans to align with the Primary Sector Council’s Te Taiao vision for the strong wool sector.
“Getting in front of people who are invested in our sector, to lay out our intentions at this stage is important,” Hewett said.
“We want to take as many people as possible along with us so that we can create sustainable value for the strong wool sector, but we also need to move quickly.”
SWAG is a collaboration of representatives from across the primary sector who have banded together to carry out the recommendations of the wool industry’s Project Action Group (PAG) report, released in July this year.
The group will work on three key areas identified in the PAG report to develop a plan of action for the sector.
These areas are bringing in international consumer-focused thinking from outside the sector, identification of commercial opportunities that industry players can invest in that are value creating, and a pathway to re-establishing on-farm data capture and analysis of best practice.
