Designed for woolgrowers, Genesys, a new programme initiated by Australian wool business Fox & Lillie, aims to connect woolgrowers with leading brands around the world.
The programme provides a platform for woolgrowers to become accredited under various industry standards regarding ethical and sustainable requirements, and also enables brands to connect with woolgrowers upholding these requirements and deliver traceability back to the farm.
The initial accreditation standard being supported by the programme is the Responsible Wool Standard (RWS), a global voluntary standard that addresses the welfare of sheep and the land that they graze on.
The RWS was developed in 2016 by Textile Exchange, an independent not-for-profit organisation, and an International Working Group consisting of a broad spectrum of interested parties including a large number of global fashion brands.
The RWS is designed to provide complete transparency and traceability within the wool supply chain, with each member of the chain required to be certified to ensure accuracy of the certification materials.
James Lillie, the Fox & Lillie managing director, told WTiN that its Genesys programme is a “new step in the evolution of our company.”
He explains: "There is a growing desire in the marketplace to find out more about where raw materials are sourced from, and our company is in the best position to deliver on wool.”
Australian family owned and operated, Fox & Lillie has been celebrating 70 years since the company’s establishment in 1948. The Fox & Lillie Group operates two companies in the wool industry: Fox & Lillie, its wool trading and export business and one of the top buyers of Australian wool; and Fox & Lillie Rural, its brokerage and direct buying business, which is a major player in the Australian industry with a large clientele of woolgrowers across a diverse range of areas and regions in Australia.
"The integration and network of the two wool companies position Fox & Lillie at the forefront to deliver traceability back to the farm through shared information and marketing opportunities," says Lillie.
Fox & Lillie has been building the foundations of Genesys since 2016 and launched the programme earlier this year. It is now gaining momentum, and according to Lillie has established the largest group of RWS certified Merino growers in Australia.
Lillie reveals that Fox & Lillie has already engaged with a number of high-end retailers, European yarn spinners and other supply chain partners to build RWS certified wool into their supply chain and is looking at expanding its long-term sustainable partnerships.
"There are a number of options for brands to build certified wool into their product lines," he says. "A suitable option can be to build certified RWS wool into one or two product lines to streamline the process, before expanding across all wool product lines."
He adds: "Fox & Lillie’s Genesys programme has been at the forefront of supporting the RWS in Australia. The integration of Fox & Lillie’s export, and broker and buyer businesses places our company in a unique position to support brands and other supply chain members to achieve an authentic value-added supply chain.
“Fundamentally our role is to facilitate the connection between brands and woolgrowers, whether it be supplying to spinners, or talking to brands and other participants in the supply chain.”
In addition to RWS accreditation, Fox & Lillie is pursuing avenues in regenerative agriculture for Genesys woolgrowers as well as a number of other areas aimed at satisfying consumer-relevant values and delivering traceability in different ways.
(Left) James Lillie, managing director of Fox & Lillie, and (right) Jonathan Lillie, managing director of Fox & Lillie Rural
All Genesys farms are required to adhere to social responsibility requirements for their impact on the environment and on their respective communities, including the health and safety of those living, working and visiting the farms. Examples include requirements on general health and safety, as well as facilities and amenities for agriculture workers.
Lillie says that “the Genesys platform has been developed to satisfy consumer demand for a higher standard of assurance of animal welfare, and environmental, social and economic sustainability.”
“Merino wool is a very rare fibre, only constituting around 1% of the global textile fibre market,” he says. “In the past 30-40 years Merino wool has moved from being viewed as a commodity fibre to a luxury fibre, and being at that higher end product tier contemporary consumers want to know more about the provenance of the products they are purchasing.
“Fox & Lillie provides opportunities for brands wishing to include provenance marketing in their message, by connecting them to individual farms with an ethical and sustainable ethos. It also provides a platform for Australian woolgrowers to differentiate their fibre and demonstrate their best farming practices to the world in respect to animal wellbeing and sustainable land management.”
Raw Australian Merino wool
Lillie attended Textile Exchange’s 2018 Textile Sustainability Conference, held on 22-24 October in Milan, Italy, and observes that “sustainable practices are gaining momentum across all preferred fibre types, including wool and cotton. There is increasing interest from our overseas client base on the issue of ethical and responsible treatment of sheep and wool production. In particular we are receiving more enquiries for RWS certified wool.”
He concludes: “Having established the largest group of Australian Merino woolgrowers certified for the RWS, we’re laying the foundations to supply more to market as demand increases. For brands and other supply chain members wishing to achieve a value-added supply chain, Fox & Lillie is in the best position to support your needs.”
