Pesky possums pull in profits

Peri Drysdale says Japan's recession is not proving a problem when it comes to luxury fabrics. DITA DE BONI reports.


A Christchurch-based apparel maker is making a killing from one of New Zealand's most destructive pests.

Outdoor clothing and knitwear maker Snowy Peak has pulled back the curtain on its success in the Japanese fine textiles market, a success owed in part to New Zealand's abundance of pesky possums.

The privately-owned company, run by its founder Peri Drysdale, is now in the process of scouting for 100 possum-trappers to supply it with 10 tonnes of possum fur this year, increasing to more than 20 tonnes from next year. This will be processed into knitwear or mixed with other fibres to create luxury fabrics.

This luxury fabric market has been highly profitable for the company in Japan, where a jacket made from Merino Mink - a brand made of a blend of merino wool and possum fibre - can sell for upwards from $7000.

The first company in New Zealand to commercially exploit possum fibre was Countrytime, which started developing blends and textile applications in 1991. It exports possum and merino wool garments and has also been selling in Japan for a year.

Snowy Peak got in on the act in 1992 after being commissioned by Wool Research to conduct "knitting" trials with the versatile fur.

Brushtail possum fibre, like that used in the Merino Mink brand, has a distinctive hollow structure which traps air and gives the textile a high warmth-to-weight ratio, without bulk.

Small residual scales which lie at the surface of the fabric do not "lock together" or "ball up" like large sheep-wool scales do, allowing the resulting fabric to be very durable.

"Conceivably, you could wear this fibre to the top of Mount Aspiring, roll around in it, sit on it, sleep on it, then come back down into a restaurant and look stylish, because it also looks expensive," says Peri Drysdale.

In 1996, the company began to look further into the development of fine woven fabrics using possum blends in a range of finishes, and found they had to move their operations to Japan where spinning and weaving technology was far superior and Japanese consumers, despite the recession, were still the world's biggest buyers - along with Italians - of luxury fabrics.

An environmental pest, the 70-80 million strong New Zealand possum population devours about 20,000 tonnes of native herbage every day.

The fashion industry in Japan thought the fur would be free and abundant because the possums were so plentiful, says Peri Drysdale. "But their faces dropped when they realised the price of possum fur worked out to more than twice the price of its natural competitor, angora." she says.

The expense of possum fur comes from the fact that many possums - between 18 and 25 - are need to realise one kilo, or $45 worth.

"We have used a pull-down approach to marketing in Japan," she says. "We started with retailers, getting them enthusiastic about the product, and would pull the product through each stage in the supply chain to the consumer, as well as providing a high level of customer service and support."

The company also took every opportunity to align its uniquely New Zealand product with marketing opportunities both presented and created in Japan.

Launches held at the New Zealand embassy and visits to Japan by Prime Minister Jenny Shipley last year provided platforms which were seized by Peri Drysdale.

She brushes off the matter of economic turmoil in the area, saying the only recession in Japan is "in people's minds, not in their wallets".

She says: "Returns from the Japanese market this year are the biggest we've ever had. But we have had to do things differently.

"In the heady days, all you'd have to do was approach a Japanese wholesaler with your product ... and you'd only have to see him to fill an order once or twice a year.

"Now, you have to work more closely with the retailer - you have to pull down, not push up."

While the company is hitting the big time internationally, with huge global customers like Burberry and Austen Reed using possum fibre fabric as the core for many of their lines, Peri Drysdale admits the woven fabrics have a limited appeal in the New Zealand market.

"I don't see a huge potential for luxury blends in New Zealand - there are few people willing to pay that much for a garment," she says.

"That much" for a jacket made from woven possum fibre fabric and launched in New Zealand for the first time last week is, at the cheapest, $440, although Peri Drysdale is quick to point out that the garment will last longer than the wearer.

"Cost is also a limitation, and of course, the availability of possums could one day dry up."

But possums are not essential, she says, for maintaining fast growth at Snowy Peak which has doubled its profits in the last two years.