The Angas family at Hutton Vale Farm, Eden Valley, have always been keen promoters of the Barossa Valley regional brand.
They have taken this a further step by joining with a group of Barossa-based wool producers to establish a dedicated wool garment label for the region.
Jan Angas was a key driver behind the idea of the brand and said it seemed a natural fit.
“The Barossa brand is well established for food and we obviously have a long history with wine,” she said.
“These are great ambassadors for Australia and we do these things so professionally here in the Barossa.
“To have wool under the Barossa brand is a no-brainer.”
In order to establish the regional brand, the group of locally-based wool producers have partnered with independent woolbroker Australian Wool Network, as part of its Direct Network Advantage program.
“We were looking to do a wool project of our own,” Mrs Angas said.
“The scale of this was going to be very difficult and challenging for us on our own and then the opportunity came up to work with AWN.”
The Angas family runs about 2500 Merino sheep, breeding for a mix of wool and crossbred lamb production, with the White Suffolk-cross lambs already direct marketed to restaurants as a means of value-adding.
They also sell branded preserves, wine and have recently added free range eggs to the mix, and were an inaugural recipient of the Barossa Trust Mark – assessed on a basis of origin, quality, environment, community and integrity.
Mrs Angas urges woolgrowers to join the AWN group which is intent on building the Barossa brand.
“There is nothing like the sense of pride a farmer gets from taking a product from its raw state to being consumer-ready,” she said.
“This is very rewarding for a primary producer.
“I see this as just the beginning and hope more people join.”
The garments will be sold under the MerinoSnug label, with the swing tag and point of sale signage identifying the Barossa Valley origin of the wool.
AWN’s SA wool marketing manager Rod Miller said a branded fibre was the missing element in the Barossa.
“The Barossa is well-known for its food and wine but we want people to join our regionally branded wool supply group so we can build a Barossa fibre product, specifically wool,’’ he said.
“The Barossa wool brand is well and truly under construction and is continually building.”
Mr Miller said he had already bought wools for the brand, and had scheduled filming for promotional videos to help it grow.
He would like to see more wool producers get involved.
“This is a wonderful opportunity for people who run sheep to become part of the Barossa branded product,” he said.
“They are able to see where their wool ends up and can gain premium prices for a product that meets the requirements.”
