We have long recognised that Australian stud breeders and many woolgrowers lost sight of the characteristics that consumers of woollen fabric and garments seek in their purchases of woollen apparel. This has been caused mainly by the short term objectives pursued by a number of stud breeders and woolgrowers, but also by the industry structure where the only people potentially interested in the sensuous, soft, luxuriousness of wool are the grower and the consumer. With only few exceptions, the rest in between are principally interested in margins.
As a consequence Edale has pursued marketing directly into the wool value chain over many years, historically being financially involved with a company attempting to source elite wool, Quality Softwools Australia Limited, and a company seeking to manufacture silky soft knitted garments and fabric, Merino Gold Limited.
However, it was as a consequence of Western Australian woolgrowers failing to respond to the interest of The Indian Woollen Mills Federation some of whose members sought to establish relationships with Western Australian grower groups that Edale stepped forward to directly ship wool to Jayashree, one the worlds best recognised topmakers, and a spinner.
Jayashree offered to process individual grower batches. Six shipments have been sent for processing. Trust between parties is an essential factor and over the time of these shipments, Jayashree has tested the processing performance of Edale's medium fine wool discovering that it ranks at the highest level (one shipment being the best performance they have achieved) when comparing the hauteur and CV(H) of the TEAM prediction and the actual performance of the wool. Rewards have been gained by each party.
Further, and as a consequence of Jayashree's pricing reflecting this processing performance, the basis of trust is that if Edale's wool does not meet the processing expectations of Jayashree, a repayment is made.
That Edale is selling wool on a processing performance basis that aligns a common interest between two parties in the value chain, and which is underpinned by a relationship of trust, is an exciting practice for the wool industry.
We are pleased that now, clients of Edale genetics as well as clients of other genetics are approaching us and presenting their wool to JayaShree.
