CHOCOLATE FISH began on a field trip to the Southern Alps in New Zealand. Just before the trip we had replaced our ancient and worn out woollen underwear with the latest synthetic gear - and it wasn't working. We felt cold, smelly and uncomfortable. So we asked local sheep farmers what they wore and where to get it. The answer was Superfine Merino. We bought some, and it worked! We then got asked by other field geologists to get them some, so started supplying it on a small scale to fellow academics. Word spread and gradually we developed into an e-commerce company

We now have our own-label range of superfine Merino wool outdoor clothing. We supply gear to professionals working from Antarctica to the Arctic, from Africa to Nepal, as well as walkers, hikers, canoeists, kayakers, mountain bikers, fell runners ….. and people who just like the quality and comfort of Superfine Merino wool clothing.

We think that the first reason our gear is so great is that our own-label range of superfine Merino wool clothing is made for us by New Zealand's leading manufacturing company in this field, Soma-President Ltd. Their expertise is second-to-none and have been producing merino baselayer, underwear and clothing for three generations. They were also one of Icebreaker's leading manufacturers before all Icebreaker production moved to China. The second reason our gear is so great is that we source our fabric from the acknowledged world leader for high performance double-knit jersey merino, Designer Textiles, based in Auckland. These two companies combined with our simple, versatile designs, make our merino outdoor clothing the best there is.

We also sell ONLY Merino (apart from the merino that's got a bit of possum in it). We really are the Merino Experts. A long family association with sheep, the wool trade, and knowledge of the UK garment industry (when we still had one), added to the expertise of Soma-President and Designer Textiles puts our gear right at the top when it comes to quality. So if you want:

• Top quality, versatile, high performance merino outdoor gear
• Made ethically in working conditions that are civilized and open to scrutiny
• By people who are the world's best, not merely the world's cheapest
• Under enivironmental standards that are amongst the toughest in the world
• From wool that is guaranteed to be from sheep raised to the highest animal welfare standards, which inlcudes a non-mulesing policy

OK - why "Chocolate Fish" ? It's a question we keep getting asked so here's the answer. Just around the coast from Wellington, is the most fabulous café (if idiosyncratic) - The Chocolate Fish. It used to be on Scorching Bay, but it's now moved to Shelly Bay. We love the place. So when we wanted a name for our company that was essentially "New Zealand", that was non-gender-specific, and made people go "What!" - in other words - memorable, the name of our favourite café leapt immediately to mind. So, we're Chocolate Fish Merino

Our Background

Long, long ago, in a time now lost in the mists of iniquity - at the end of my first year, one of my tutors turned to me in despair and said "Why is it you still know more about sheep than you do about English Literature?" Says it all really. He could have said the same at the end of my third year! Years of youthful traipsing over the Yorkshire Moors, helping out with tupping, lambing, and dagging, had given me a rare acquaintance with the sheep of the Yorkshire Dales. I had also learnt to shear and sort, clean, card even handspin, and knit - not brilliantly well it has to be said - but enough to give me a long love affair with the properties of wool.

Sometime later, between school and uni, when the UK still had a clothing industry, I worked for one of the first companies to mass produce ski-wear. It was here I learnt about cutting, sewing and finishing. As I then went on to Uni to study English & History it all seemed rather irrelevant. Little did I know!

Eventually I met a geologist whose idea of a good time was somewhere at the top of a mountain communing with rocks. These mountains were the Pyrenees, Scottish Highlands, Alps, Snowy Mountains, Rockies, Southern Alps - and a few more I've forgotten. The outdoors was where he worked and I tagged along for the fun of it. Occasionally, in the pursuit of my own career, I would also be involved in filming which meant standing around in the freezing cold on location somewhere cold and miserable for hours on end. Serious clothing was always a priority.

We have now been joined by our son Tom, who despite acquiring an MPhys, has chosen to join us in running the company. He spent a large chunk of summer 2009 with our manufacturer out in Hawkes Bay, and visited out other suppliers out there. Tom is now taking over from the reins leaving me to twiddle with the website and chat to those of you who phone us - the best bits!