The group has been established to carry out the recommendations of the Wool Industry Project Action Group report, released in July.
It comprises representatives of companies in the wool sector and people with marketing and innovation expertise, as well as four red meat processing and marketing companies that had committed seed funding to the group, alongside funding from the Ministry for Primary Industries.
Mr Hewett, who farms in the Manuka Gorge and is co-chairman of Silver Fern Farms Ltd and chairman of Farmlands, said the strong wool sector had "run out of puff" and run out of money.
The group would work on three key areas identified in the report to develop a plan of action for the sector.
"We will re-establish some important industry-good capability, bring in international consumer-focused thinking from outside the sector, and identify a basket of opportunities for investment that will create value," Mr Hewett said.
Outside-in thinking was a concept the New Zealand agribusiness sector had been exposed to through the work of Stanford University marketing expert Baba Shiv as part of the NZTE-supported Te Hono movement.
The brainchild of New Zealand Merino chief executive John Brakenridge, Te Hono started in 2012 as the New Zealand primary sector boot camp with a gathering of 23 chief executives from primary sector companies. It now features alumni of more than 260 leaders.
Outside-in thinking had been proven to stimulate innovation and help create products consumers valued and the group believed that would help the strong wool sector as it had for fine wool, Mr Hewett said.
In recent years the fine wool sector had created new product categories such as active wear and footwear that had been "outstandingly successful".
Both were consumer-focused and it was now about applying some consumer-focused thinking to the strong wool industry and understanding where the opportunities might be. It was important that they were consumer-led opportunities; if not, then the relevance was not there, he said.
Thinking about the global position of "naturalness", Mr Hewett said people were hearing almost daily about the amount of plastics and microbeads in oceans and waterways from the likes of synthetic clothing, furnishings and carpet. Consumer sentiment globally, particularly among the affluent sector, was for natural alternatives.
The group would assemble a bunch of projects — "we’ve got to pick winners, we will have a few to pursue" — and boil them down to a few key opportunities that could then be worked into more detailed business cases and taken to MPI and the Agriculture Minister for potential investment opportunities.
Mr Hewett said he was in the group because of the red-meat sector, and also because he was a sheep farmer.
The meat sector had a vested interest in a strong sheep sector and it was logical to get involved, he said.
"We want to provide stimulus to the value of the fifth quarter, which includes wool and non-meat products such as pelts, pharmaceuticals and casings, and support our sheep farmers, who need to see a lift in the profitability of their wool to ensure the ongoing viability of hill-country farming in New Zealand."
The initial group also includes Kate Acland, Paul Alston, Tony Balfour, David Ferrier, Craig Hickson, Andrew Morrison, Tom O’Sullivan, John Rodwell, Nadine Tunley, Peter Whiteman and Steve Williamson. Additions will be made in the future as capability requirements evolve.
