8 | Woollen bags make a statement Honest Wolf turns strong wool from their 3300ha hill-country Papanui Station near Hunterville into a range of hand, travel and work bags. Honest Wolf T T Hugh de Lacy “Those plastic bags being banned got us wondering whether we couldn’t replace them with beautiful woollen ones.” REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT An Honest Wolf in sheep’s clothing has bagged the Deloitte Fast 50 2025 award for the fastest-growing retail company in the lower North Island. Honest Wolf is Sophie and Sam Hurley’s woollen bag and accessories company, which turns strong wool from their 3300ha hill-country Papanui Station near Hunterville into a range of hand, travel and work bags. Launched in 2020, Honest Wolf has its 35-micron wool scoured, then shipped to Delhi, India, where it’s turned into beautifully crafted all-wool bags – most of them about the size of the now banned supermarket plastic bags that sowed the idea in the Hurleys’ minds in the first place. “Those plastic bags being banned got us wondering whether we couldn’t replace them with beautiful woollen ones,” Sophie says. “We got various samples made in India because we couldn’t find the right sort of machinery here, and in 2022 launched Honest Wolf with a website and a retail and distribution shop in Hunterville. “Most of our sales are generated by the website – we’ve got customers all over the world – but besides our own Honest Wolf shop in Hunterville, which caters to passing traffic, our products are sold in Untouched World’s four stores, at Ballantynes department store in Christchurch, among others.” Of the Deloitte Fast 50 award, Sophie says: “We thought it was pretty cool to land that, to get that sort of growth in a tough retail market.” And the name says it all. “The ‘Honest’ part of our product line showcases the use of our own wool, and also the reality of running a business in rural New Zealand while raising three young children. The ‘Wolf’ reflects us wanting to be a leader in finding new ways to use wool.” Sophie grew up on a sheep farm near Mayfield in Mid-Canterbury, and in 2016 joined Sam on the family farm they run in partnership with Sam’s father Andy, and brother Jack. The Hurley flock of Romney-Kelso-cross sheep produces wool that’s generally too thick for all but the heartiest of clothing, and would normally otherwise end up as carpet. Wanting to get their wool revenue up above the farmgate price – the market’s firmed $1/ kg to about $4.50/kg over the past year – was what drove the Hurleys to find an alternative use for their strong wool. “We pay above-market rates for our wool, a price that we believe the farmer deserves, as we want to raise both the production standards and the farmgate wool price for all farmers across New Zealand, not just Papanui,” Sophie says. Honest Wolf is currently sending one or two 10,000kg container consignments of their wool to Delhi a year and, with each bag consuming about a kilogram of wool, that volume can only rise. Driving demand in the domestic market is Honest Wolf’s range of corporate gifting bags which are embroidered with the host company’s logo. “We get orders for client and staff gifting for Christmas, and through collaborations such as the NZ Supporters Team range for the 2024 Olympics, and Glendfiddich’s nationwide Fathers Day campaign.” www.gvi.co.nz • Import / Export Air & Ocean • Customs Brokerage • Third Party Logistics (3PL) • Perishable Logistics • Event Logistics • Project Logistics Proudly Supporting Honest Wolf
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