{"id":43158,"date":"2021-03-26T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-03-25T11:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.farmersweekly.co.nz\/swag-set-sights-on-us-market\/"},"modified":"2021-03-26T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2021-03-25T11:00:00","slug":"swag-set-sights-on-us-market","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.farmersweekly.co.nz\/news\/swag-set-sights-on-us-market\/","title":{"rendered":"SWAG set sights on US market"},"content":{"rendered":"Reading Time: <\/span> 3<\/span> minutes<\/span><\/span>

The first target market is America because that is where 45% of the world\u2019s carpet manufacturing capability is.<\/p>\n

SWAG chief executive Andy Caughey says a nine-week project commissioned with San Francisco-based design-led company IDEO is on track for presentation to the SWAG board early next month.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is about consumer insight and there are some big trends happening in America,\u201d Caughey said.<\/p>\n

Covid has changed the perception of how people live and with more people working from home, the rise of Zoom towns in the US, and growing consciousness worldwide of environmental credentials of products, are all trends SWAG is hinging on as potential opportunities.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe plan is to uncover consumers\u2019 pain points and develop a solution in a strong wool demand-driven strategy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we are currently exporting strong wool overseas, we don\u2019t have a clear understanding of which companies and end products the wool is going into.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to understand the value chain our strong wool takes, and importantly get into the heads and minds of modern consumers so we know what they want and anticipate their requirements into the future.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

The focus has been whittled down to three key project opportunities \u2013 global potential, more volume and increased value.<\/p>\n

\u201cIDEO is completing a report around the key criteria of these three projects; this report is due by the end of March and will be presented to the SWAG board in April,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will then provide open engagement for people to participate in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Caughey acknowledged that IDEO, while part of the process, will not work for everyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are emerging brands and ideas coming out of NZ and we recognise that, and they will have the opportunity to work with SWAG,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t support everyone \u2013 there is limited resources and limited time.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will go through the process to determine what other companies we can work with to build an investment case for them.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe critical component of IDEO is what we do for the greatest good for all as we identify the best and most suitable projects for investment funding.\u201d<\/p>\n

SWAG is not an industry good organisation.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we are here to do the industry good,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Funding is not a hurdle with SWAG\u2019s budget of $3.5 million, including strong government support on top of $750,000 from a cross section of industry bodies and companies.<\/p>\n

Brands will be the key to disrupt categories, such as Allbirds disrupting the sport shoe category, and repositioning wool in the minds of consumers.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to build brands and work with brands who can be ambassadors for NZ strong wool,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is fascinating what people are doing with strong wool, there is no single solution.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to help build a pathway for these budding entrepreneurs to give them skills and resources to bring these products to market.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are creating a pathway to accelerate a route to market that we can execute with a high degree of confidence.\u201d<\/p>\n

Come July-August, SWAG will be pitching to the Government, and other entities that may have an interest in investing.<\/p>\n

It might be a start-up, joint venture or a collaboration with an existing company in NZ.<\/p>\n

By the end of the year, the intention is to have at least four companies invested with funding to launch in the marketplace.<\/p>\n

SWAG is also active in building an accreditation platform for strong wool and workforce capability to help encourage the industry to ensure it has the capacity to train sufficient wool graders and shearers for the future.<\/p>\n

Before SWAG runs its time at the end of this year, the aim is to have in place enduring industry structures that will support the industry in the future.<\/p>\n

Currently there is no single entity providing direction or encouraging cooperation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will look at industry structures to represent all interests of the wool industry,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat may not be a single entity, but by the end of the year we will identify what it will be.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Getting into the heads and minds of modern consumers is a key priority for the Strong Wool Action Group (SWAG) in its drive to understand the future value chain of New Zealand strong wool.\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":43159,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_FSMCFIC_featured_image_caption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_nocaption":"","_FSMCFIC_featured_image_hide":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t