california wool mill feasibility study

The California Wool Mill: A New Model for Making Fabric

The Study Team:• Amber Bieg, MBA – Green-Ideas • Dustin Kahn - Fibershed• Rebecca Burgess - Fibershed

Funders: • Lorene Arey, Clara Fund• Don Shaffer, at Rudolf Steiner Foundation• John Wick and Peggy Rathmann• Heather Blackie, Blackie Foundation

Research Support:• Key Contributors: Lydia Wendt, Marcia de Longe, Jenny Kassan, and Erin Axlerod • Processing: Dan Rhodes of Gaston College, Amaury De La Forcade of NSC, Lynda

Grose of California College of the Arts• Supply: Mike Corn of Roswell Wool, California sheepherds and rangers, farmers,

shearers and everyone who answered the surveys• Demand: Designers and apparel brands who answered our survey and interviews

Outline

Introduction

Supply Analysis/Inventory

Demand Analysis

Mill Operations and Site Feasibility

Mill Financial and Environmental Performance

Economic and Community Impact Analysis

Conclusion and Recommendations

INTRODUCTION

Human Textile Culture

High Tech

Craft

Synthetic garment fibers are the greatest source of plastic pollution on the world’s beaches(NY Times, 2011)

20% of global water pollution is

from textile dyeing and treatment

(World Bank, 2013

Child labor and forced

labor still are problems in

the textile supply chain

Culture of Sheepherding at Risk

It’s time for a new model . . .

Sheep to Chic

SUPPLY ANALYSIS

CA Wool Inventory Quantity

Total inventory = 1.4 million lbs. of wool, 44.8% of total CA supply

CA Wool Inventory Quality79% is fine enough to wear next to skin!

CA Wool Inventory Color and Usability

Breeding needs to be optimized for fineness and color diversity!

Flock Size and Wool Quality

DEMAND ANALYSIS

Consumers want local and domestic

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700 Willingness to pay 25% or more price markup for local

Source: Iowa State University, Allan Ortiz 2010

In a NY Times Survey, 68% of respondents preferred products

made in the U.S. and were willing to pay

more!

Re-shoring is already happening

How much it costs to make a hoodie. Representative wholesale costs, according to Bayard Winthrop, the founder of American Giant. Source: New York Times, September 19, 2013.

“LA’s Single brand can turn around 800 silk print dresses for Neiman Marcus and Lord & Taylor in as little as two weeks, now that 90% of its production is done at home with only a $1/dress price difference, with quality control and timing much better (Los Angeles Times, 2011).”

Recommended Products

4.5 oz. knit fabric, 60"

wide on bolt

8 oz. knit fabric, 60"

wide on bolt

12 oz. knit fabric, 60"

wide on bolt

4.5 oz. seamless garment

8 oz. seamless garment

20 oz. knit fabric, 60"

wide on bolt

Addressable Market

Consumers

LOHAS

Brands

Total Addressable

market = $14.7 billion

$331 billion US Apparel Market

$290 billion LOHAS market

$36 billion in CA

textile/apparel market

$14.7 billion CA brands

textile market

Potential Customer Research

“Made in California taps into our original roots. As a company based out of Berkeley and tied very closely with California culture, we believe that Made in California will mean a lot to our customers.”

– KRYSTLE MOODY, THE NORTH FACE

“Localized production is important. I would love to see regional textiles from Northern California.”

– SCOTT LEONARD, INDIGENOUS

“We pride ourselves on quality: quality of fiber, yarn and fabric. We source from the best of the best. We would be interested in sourcing from California, especially if we can lower our footprint, without lowering our environmental and quality standards.”

– RYAN THOMPSON, PATAGONIA

Customer Needs

“We are interested in sourcing from California for quicker turn-around time.” – JUICY COUTURE

MILL OPERATIONS AND SITE FEASIBILITY

The Greasy Wool to Garment Process

Wool Aggregation

Cutting and

Sewing

Wool fabric milling

The Equipment

Scouring

Combing

Spinning

Knitting

Areas of Research and Development

Enzymatic Superwash Natural Dyes

Bast Fiber Blends Colored Wool Blends

Production VolumesYield Post-ScouringBased on current wool

supply and growth projections

BATCH SIZES

Conceptual Design 85,000 square feet, 97% renewable energy, 100% water recycling

Facility

Closed Loop Milling System

Water Use

Water Recycling System

Energy

Energy Use

Solar vs Grid

Heat and Cooling Systems

Solar Hot Water Heater

Geothermal Heat Pump

System

Waste

MILL FINANCIAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL PERFORMANCE

Profitability

Profitability

Revenue

Capital Costs and Expenses

86%

Per Unit Margin

Location Performance Comparison

Life Cycle Analysis

Scenarios• 1. Conventional realistic• 2. Conventional optimistic• 3. Fibershed Soil Neutral• 4. Fibershed geothermal mix• 5. Fibershed geothermal• 5. Fibershed solar• 7. Fibershed Compost and

Solar

Life Cycle Analysis

Multi-Stakeholder Coop & DPOThe nonprofit

Fibershed

Ranchers (producers)

Designers and artisans

(consumers) The mill workers

Mission-aligned supporters (investors)

Initial Funding

Start-up financing from foundations and impact investors

USDA grant funding

Co-op member equity contributions

Direct public offering (DPO) of preferred stock

What are the next steps?

Prototype & Test Market Viability

Mill Business Plan

Design and Build Mill

Step #1

Prototype• Use existing US milling

facilities to produce fabric using California wool.

Test Market Viability• Sell the prototype fabric.

Thank You

For questions or comments, please email Amber Bieg

amber (at) californiacloth.com

BIBLIOGRAPHY