| 19 MEAT & WOOL » Carl and Tori Uren Diverse business on Banks Peninsula The Uren’s enterprise also includes a successful merino clothing business, which evolved twelve years ago from a desire to find suitable school clothing for their children. Richard Loader A fourth generation farmer, Carl Uren says farming is all he ever wanted to do - it’s just part of the family blood. Carl and his wife Tori operate two beef finishing farms in Banks Peninsula. The home block is in Le Bons Bay and encompasses 550 hectares of easy to medium contour country. As well as beef finishing, the farm also provides good cash flow from grazing for dairy heifers, Friesian bulls, and NZ Wagyu cattle. A smaller 165 hectare support bock in Barry’s Bay is also used for finishing, with all calves sent to the home farm at weaning, and includes some steeper country. “The direction we would like to take our farming business is to head into irrigated country to mitigate against the increasing dry summers and make our business more resilient,” says Carl. “We may look at selling one of our dryland farms to make that happen.” The Uren’s enterprise also includes a successful merino clothing business, which evolved twelve years ago from a desire to find suitable school clothing for their children. Unable to find anything without branding, Tori’s mum made the first little run of merino jerseys. When other parents saw the Uren kids wearing the merino gear they were keen to place orders to replace products made from unnatural fibres. That gave birth to the True Fleece brand.” “Providing school clothing is still there, but in recent times our focus has shifted to supplying New Zealand companies and businesses with merino apparel for their staff as part of their uniform. Making that transition enabled us to make garments to order and simplify the supply chain, which also means we can keep the costs down. We don’t have to carry vast quantities of stock, place it in shops and wait for it to be sold. The wool is sourced from New Zealand Merino and we manufacture a broad range of apparel including base layer clothing against the skin, outerwear like hoodies, quarter-zip jerseys, beanies, hand-warmer gloves – clothing right across the board really.” The business is run by Tori and Carl from the comfort of their home and a key strength is that a customer can phone and talk directly to one of the owners, and know they will get an answer to their enquiry. Carl’s sister helps with some marketing and the garments are manufactured locally in Unlocking the Future of Meat and Profit: Elevate Your Flock with our Elite RAMs Christchurch. Distribution is either done directly from the factory, with on-line orders from the Uren’s home completed on a daily basis. “It’s a simple business model, but we know what works and we stick to it, especially with the current business climate which is challenging to work in. It also means we can keep the costs down. Our garments are not the most expensive in the market, but the quality is second to none, and the wool has been produced by New Zealand farmers. We have a lot of repeat customers as well as word of mouth referrals.” Transport (2006) Ltd BANKS PENINSULA SPECIALISTS IN Call Rex now on 03 3251 024 Mobile 027 473 0172 Freephone 0800 662 344 • Livestock Cartage • Hiab & Bulk Freight • Ready-mix Structural Concrete • Fertiliser Delivery • Shingle Supply & Delivery (All Grades) Ask the people who know the peninsula nexia.co.nz We’re here to take your business further. NexiaChristchurch are proud to support True Fleecewith their accounting and business advisory needs.
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