Alpaca World Magazine Spring 2005 - Classical MileEnd Alpacas

The Alpaca
Fleece Industry
John Gaye shares his personal view following
the latest events to overtake BAFCo
Most British breeders will
be aware of the wonderful
qualities of their animals’
fi bre and will have
experienced the silkiness of handle and
warmth of alpaca garments. They will sing
the praises of the fi bre to all those to
whom they speak and will talk about the
various outlets that are available for the
further processing and manufacturing of
the fi bre from their animals into products.
However statistics tell a very different
story about the enthusiasm amongst
breeders for supporting the various
initiatives that have started up over the
last few years.
Back in 1999 the British Alpaca Fibre
Co-operative was set up with a view
to uniting the whole industry behind
one specifi c initiative and preventing
fragmentation. It got off to a great start
with much enthusiasm and some very
high-powered support. Most of the larger
breeders, and many of the smaller ones,
were involved and put considerable
money and energy into its launch.
The aim was to keep control of all the
processing and manufacturing so that
members of the Co-operative would
benefi t by the added value of selling the
product rather than raw fi bre.
During the last few years other
initiatives have started, some with more
success than others; some breeders have
got together to make woven material,
others have made arrangements with
hand spinners, a few have gone much
further by investing in mini-mills and
there are now a couple of larger mills
successfully processing alpaca fi bre and
turning it into yarn. These initiatives might
be seen as a distraction from the original
purpose of the Co-op and will certainly
have provided some form of competition
and inevitable fragmentation. However,
having enquired about the amount of
fi bre that is put through these various
initiatives, it is amazing to discover how
little fi bre is actually being processed
and it would seem that these initiatives
have not been very signifi cant in terms of
competition for fl eece.
If in 2004 there were, conservatively,
about 12,000–15,000 animals in the
UK each producing, again conservatively,
about 2kgs of fi bre then there should
have been about 24–30 tonnes of fi bre
available. Where on earth is it? Last year
the Co-op took in 3.7 tonnes, UK Alpaca
took in about 3.5 tonnes and the busiest
mini-mill in the country estimates that
they cannot have taken more than about
2 tonnes in the year. That means that
more than 50% of the fi bre from British
alpacas in 2004 was not utilised in any
form for the benefi t of the breeder or,
more importantly, it did not go to support
any of the many initiatives that have been
set up for the industry. It is probably
sitting in barns, attics or sheds doing
nothing.
One of the casualties of this
indifference has been the Fibre
Co-operative. Although the Co-op’s
AGM has yet to take place its board
is recommending that it be put into
mothballs until there is a better ground
swell of support from those who breed
alpacas. As the Co-op Chairman has
written: ‘… with hindsight the Co-op is
not seen by the majority of owners as a
critical component of the alpaca
industry …’
The Co-op has received some very
generous support from a few breeders
and a great deal of hard work has
produced some good building blocks for
the future. But without working capital
and without substantial quantities of
fl eece it could not continue to operate on
a commercial basis. This is a huge shame
as the committee and its chief executive
have put in place some substantial and
important achievements:
✱ It had a fl eece collection process that
worked and could cope with tonnes of
fl eece
✱ It had a proven processing contract
that stores, records incoming fl eece
and produces quality tops
✱ It had identifi ed and put in place a
commercial partner who could take
even the poorer qualities of fi bre and
utilise them in a practical way for
rugs, carpets etc as well as for the
better quality fi bre being turned into
garments.
✱ It had identifi ed a member who had
volunteered to supply professional
warehousing, packing and despatch
and an inventory control of fi nished
products.
It also had many other achievements that
boded well for the future including:
✱ An embryonic sales network
✱ An expanding customer base
✱ An introduction to the Japanese market
✱ An opportunity to submit for a grant
application
✱ Eligibility for DEFRA matched funding
All of these achievements will now be
moth balled and why? Because at the
end it was only being supported by less
than 10% of alpaca owners. The business
plan on which the Co-op was working was
relatively modest in its assumptions. It
needed 5 tonnes of fl eece annually and
working capital of £90,000. It received
3.7 tonnes of fl eece and just £55,000
capital with which to work.
If, as a result of the AGM, the Co-op
is mothballed then there will still be
plenty of potential for someone to take
the knowledge, experience, contacts
and support gained over the last few
years forward. But sadly it would seem
that at this stage that is unlikely to be
forthcoming in the near future.
So what do we do with our fl eece
now? The fi rst thing that breeders must
appreciate is that the onus is on them.
They must learn how to sort and grade
their own fl eeces through workshops which
have taken place frequently over the years
and will no doubt continue to be held
by breed societies and others. Then at
shearing time they must put into practice
the lessons learnt. Talking to shearers they
tell an interesting story about the lack
of knowledge and indifference shown by
many of their clients.
Breeders must then utilise their fi bre;
either by developing their own contacts
with spinners, weavers or others or by
supporting one of the existing initiatives
that are available to ensure that the
fl eece is put to good use. There are
breeders who through their own efforts
have had garments made for them to
sell on – this is an excellent way to show
potential alpaca owners that there is a
market for the product and it also can
produce an income from the fi bre that
can be signifi cant.
If however time and resources do not
allow for this sort of private enterprise
then owners of alpacas must accept
that and support one of the existing
enterprises and not look for substantial
income in so doing. The industry needs
to have product on the market at a price
that gives the middle men an incentive to
invest their resources into the processing
and manufacturing side of the business.
Only in this way can progress be made.
Breed societies come in for a certain
amount of fl ack with some owners saying
that they should be supporting the
industry by investing members’ money
into the fi bre industry. This may one day
come about but it is not in the remit of
either breed society at the moment and
“If, as a result of the AGM, the Co-op
is mothballed then there will still be
plenty of potential for someone to take
the knowledge, experience, contacts and
support gained over the last few years
forward. But sadly it would seem that at
this stage that is unlikely to be forthcoming
in the near future.”
for the moment is probably best kept at
arms’ length. However for those who were
not around at the time it is interesting
to appreciate that the Co-op was set up
originally as a result of an initiative of
the BAS.
The likely demise of the British Alpaca
Fibre Co-operative will be a blow to many
breeders, not least the few that invested,
for the benefi t of the industry, substantial
sums of money to attempt to make it
work. In addition there are many long
standing alpaca owners, who have been
involved in the development of the Co-op
and supported it through thick and thin
either fi nancially or through the donation
of their valuable time, who will be very
disappointed with this outcome.
The alpaca industry needs a
successful outlet for its fi bre whereby
income from the sale of fl eece can
sustain the price of the animal in the
long term. The original vision of the
Co-op – to add value through the control
of processing and manufacturing – still
holds true as a way to achieve this. What
is now needed is a white knight who has
that vision, but also has the resources,
the acumen and the confi dence to take
the ball and run with it and gain the
enthusiasm and support from a much
greater proportion of alpaca owners than
previously. So much has been achieved
over the years in putting in place the
knowledge and experience; it would be
a real sadness not to exploit that for the
benefi t of all alpacas and their owners.
Alpaca World Magazine Spring 2005 | 27