New Zealand’s fibre sector generates more than $926 million, according to new research of the wider ecosystem from production through to processing, design, and export.

“A lot of that fibre leaves the country very early on in that processing stage and then we are reimporting a lot of it back in processed, whether that be as yarn or as textiles or as finished clothing,” says Jacinta FitzGerald, chief executive of Fashion & Textiles New Zealand.

“There’s a real gap between what we actually produce at the farm gate and what we then export as a finished product.”

FitzGerald says the “Future of Fibre Aotearoa” research, an AGMARDT-funded pilot project, covers established fibres such as wool, hides and skins as well as emerging ones including hemp, harakeke, mohair, cashmere and alpaca, and experimental biomaterials.

“There are incredible things being done with food waste, for example, kiwi leather would be an example of that,” she says.

Government procurement is one route to building more value onshore, FitzGerald says, with a New Zealand manufacturer securing a contract to knit woollen socks for the defence industry.

“Government supporting New Zealand businesses and the manufacturing base of New Zealand businesses really enables that security of demand, and it enables them to make investment decisions, improve productivity and efficiency within their businesses, within their technologies.”

High-tech machinery can deliver a competitive edge on some products, she says, while partnering with countries that have specialist capability or scale suits others.

“We can’t manufacture everything in New Zealand, but we know that we can manufacture some things really well.”

She says fully utilising the resources we produce is important.

“We know that there’s a global shift towards natural high-quality premium fibres and materials for health benefits, for comfort benefits; there’s market pressures, regulatory demands coming in in the EU in particular.

“We export very little in terms of value-added finished product, so that speaks to a really good opportunity for export.”

Fashion & Textiles New Zealand is due to release a manufacturing strategy for the clothing and textile sector in the coming weeks. The Threads of Tomorrow Summit takes place on June 16 in Auckland, with speakers including representatives from Patagonia.

CountryWide CONNECT with Andy Thompson & Sarah Perriam-Lampp is our daily rural show livestreamed from 11am-1pm. Visit country-wide.co.nz on how to watch/listen or download the CountryWide CONNECT mobile app, available on Apple iOS and Android.