The forum had industry leaders detailing science, investment and research to give hope to farmers and growers in the struggling sheep sector.
The Wool Opportunity Workshop had its first stop in the rural Waimahaka Community Centre on Wednesday morning.
The workshop was run by Wool Research Organisation of New Zealand (WRONZ) and scourer WoolWorks with support from Federated Farmers.
The sheep farming audience heard from representatives of the groups, plus advocates Wool Impact, The New Zealand Merino Company and WRONZ commercial outfit Wool Source NZ.
Associate Minister of Agriculture Mark Patterson was also on hand to give his opinions. He was there as a farmer as well as an MP, he said.
Wool Source NZ business development manager Nick Aubrey provided the most show-and-tell part of the morning, with his products made from WRONZ research.
The research body had been tasked with finding a new use for wool in 2016, its chairman Andrew Morrison said, and had deconstructed strong wool into particles, powders and pigments.
Mr Aubrey opened by spraying the powder into the air, with a product prototype for dry shampoo.
Beauty products with "keratin" on the label were often made with horns, hooves and feathers, but big companies were now getting in trouble for using the animal products.
"L’Oreal can’t use horns and hooves [any more] — they’d be crucified," he said.
Wool-sourced particles were a vegetarian, if not vegan, solution.
He then passed round a lipstick packaging example, made from the particles of deconstructed wool.
His last offering was printing design, with an embossed laminate made from the particles, and samples of ink made from wool-derived pigment.
Mr Morrison said WRONZ had challenged itself not to invest in technology unless it offered a price of $10 per kilo of wool for the grower.
The hope of a $10 wool price was music to the ears of farmers in the audience.
Also presenting was WoolWorks operation manager Breanna Hayes, who spoke about the company’s two scouring facilities, the only two remaining in the country.
Its Washdyke facility in Timaru installed a $26 million e-boiler, replacing a coal one, in 2021, making the site low-carbon.
"That’s really good for us in New Zealand," she said. "We can scour our wool with low-carbon attributes. It gives us market opportunities."
Merino Company supply manager Pete Scarlet spoke about commercial partnerships and multiple brand opportunities in the industry, creating "growth opportunity".
Mr Morrison said investment was the way to go for the future, be it WRONZ investment in research, government funding or farmers choosing where to put their money.
"There’s an aspect of nobody’s going to save our life unless we invest in solutions," he said. "You’re hearing from companies today that are investing their money in solutions."
