| 51 Rangitikei: Atihau Whanganui Inc Atihau Whanganui Incorporation covers a total of 42,000 hectares between Ohakune and Whanganui. REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT Elco Direct is one of the largest wool buyers in New Zealand with a history that spans more than sixty years. A wholly owned subsidiary of Bremworth Ltd, which also owns carpet maker Bremworth Carpet and Rugs, Elco Direct takes its name from E Lichenstein and Co which was the largest New Zealand owned wool exporting company in the ‘90s and early 2000s. Today, Elco Direct has branches/woolstores in Cambridge, Taumarunui, Raetihi and Whanganui and handles 10 million kilograms of wool a year. Cross-bred wool is sourced from North Island sheep farms from North Auckland through to the Wairarapa and delivered to store year round with the biggest volume flows occurring December, January, February and then May, June, July. Thirty percent of all wool handled is supplied to Bremworth Carpets and Rugs to produce New Zealand woolen carpets, while the remaining seventy percent is sold into the export market. “Wool comes in from the farms to one of our woolstores where it is tested, weighed and classified into saleable lines of like for like wool, looking at colour, length and micron,” says Product Development Manager Chris Hart. “There is a growing trend for woolen carpets and Bremworth Carpets and Rugs has made a strategic decision to only make woolen carpets. We have also earned the trust of wool exporters who ship our wool around the world to be transformed into upholstery, carpets, snuggly blankets and garments. A small percentage of wool is supplied to local processors.” One of Elco Direct’s keys to success is operating its own supply logistics with a fleet of ten specialised wool trucks calling at farms, picking up wool and delivering to the closest woolstore, ensuring complete control over the supply chain. As with any successful company though, the staff are the real point of difference. “We have a very flat structure where each individual team member and role within the business plays a key part in the success of the business. I believe that is our biggest point of difference.” Without the wool though there is no business and Chris says regardless of the volume supplied each year, every supplier is a valuable member of the Elco Direct family. The supplier relationship with Atihau Whanganui goes back over twenty years. The Incorporation has become a major supplier to the Whanganui region. “Atihau produces a wool type that is ideal for Bremworth Carpets in terms of colour, length and micron, perfect for making carpet.” The Wool Experts
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