What is the background story of Wisewool?
Wisewool was created only three years ago, but our family has been involved in the wool business since 1894, doing everything but manufacturing. Given that it is one of the most incredible natural sustainable materials in the world, wool is in need of a renaissance after the last seven decades when its innate attributes have been severely overlooked. With the green transition unfolding, there is no better time to help bring the sheep industry back into limelight, especially considering the enthusiasm that our innovative products have spurred.
Thanks to its regenerative characteristics that make it a great pillar for the circular economy, our goal is to use wool to replace all the foam in the world, but most importantly we want to help rebuild the entire sheep industry which is now at its lowest point.
What makes your wool products stand out from other options in the market?
Through innovation and without altering its natural composition with foreign materials, we were able to give wool some extra benefits. This allowed us to create Wisewool Cloud, Wisewool Buds and Wisewool Needle-Punched Blanketing: three similar products that can be used for specific and various purposes. Besides using it for insulation, where it can successfully replace non-sustainable options, wool finds its place as a filler in cushions, pillows, mattresses, bedding, squabs and more. Additionally, for more eccentric purposes, we can use wool to make wrapping paper, face creams, dental floss or sunglasses.
What are your plans to help revitalize the sheep and wool industry in New Zealand?
New Zealand produces a third of the world’s strong wool. Despite this apparent success, wool is very lightly processed here, which makes it lose its originality. On top of that, virtually none of the revenue of this economic transaction finds its way back to the farmer, leading to disastrous wool prices that do not even cover the cost of shearing. Due to this difficult context, many farmers are looking to close down their sheep farms and repurpose their land. To encourage them to continue to grow wool, we decided to go into processing so that the value is added here, and the money go back directly to them. Unfortunately, there has not been enough support for this industry. We aim to change this paradigm one step at a time.
Which strategy would you like to use when it comes to commercializing your products?
Possibly, we will retain ownership of our products and work with overseas large private equity companies that are interested in buying from us. We would like to avoid collaborations with corporate entities because we aim to step away from the commercialization model used by the synthetics industry. Thankfully, since we started Wisewool, we got in touch with some extraordinary partners which share the same values as ourselves, so we are confident we have a bright future ahead.
Are there any specific expansion paths you would like to follow in the near future?
Everything is on the table as far as we are concerned. We are ready to push as much as needed to make sure wool replaces all the synthetic materials that are now ruling the world. Concretely, we are looking at different opportunities of either collaborating with private American companies or building our own facilities in the U.S. to strengthen and expand the wool industry.
What should Wisewool achieve in the next few years for it to be a successful company?
Now that we are all starting to recognize the effects of climate change and how it affects our lives, we would like to see more people realize the importance of buying and using sustainable products. In our view, wool is a major piece of the puzzle, and in doing our due diligence to help support environmental movements, we plan to make Wisewool as famous as Coca-Cola.
