The organisation Business New Zealand has been running a "Buy New Zealand-made" campaign for years, in the teeth of the government's free trade policies in the 1990's. These policies shut down many Kiwi companies, putting thousands out of work. Others such as MacPac, Swanndri, Sunbeam, Fairydown and now Icebreaker say they were forced to relocate production to Asia, meaning that those companies who stayed on in New Zealand were forced to compete with a torrent of cheap Chinese-made goods.

Icebreaker-labelled garments are, as far as we know, still made using New Zealand Merino. The tops (fleeces) are exported to China for spinning, knitted into fabric there, and this is then made into Icebreaker garments there. However, using the same criterion, Italy could also use the "Kiwi-Made label on the suits its garment producers make from cloth spun and woven from New Zealand Merino. What most people are unaware of is that Icebreaker never actually "made" anything. They contracted out their brand for production to a number of New Zealand companies. They then pulled out of New Zealand in favour of Chinese production companies. Icebreaker is not therefore "Kiwi-Made" but "China-Made".

Nothing, "forced" Icebreaker and the other companies out of New Zealand, as is claimed by Jeremy Moon and others. We have it on authority from several of the companies that used to make Icebreaker garments, that they offered to match the Chinese prices but were turned down. Nor is the claim made by Jeremy Moon that New Zealand didn't have enough capacity, seen as a valid excuse for moving all production away from New Zealand. Nor could Icebreaker say their move to China was in the interests of product quality. Icebreaker always had the option of actually investing in plant and people and developing production itself, rather than doing what it has always done, and contract out. As investigative journalist Barbara Burstyn says

Icebreaker is manufactured in a country that quashes all dissent, that controls information, that jails environmentalists, that hides their environmental mess, that is teetering on the very brink of catastrophe that will impact unimaginably on the entire planet. This is not the 'relationship with nature' that Icebreaker proclaims to be so proud of.

Now the Greens, and the companies who are survivors of the "free trade" disaster are lobbying hard for the "Buy Kiwi Made" campaign. These are the companies that have kept jobs and production in New Zealand, and by doing so, have kept society stable despite some the toughest employment and environment laws in the world.

Our own clothing manufacturers are all resolutely New Zealand based. The owners and managing directors of these companies have all invested their own money and time in both plant and people, providing important jobs that support families. How many families do the companies that have moved production away from New Zealand support - in New Zealand that is? The growers who produce the fleece would have a ready market anyway. The designers - how many of these are actually employed?

The fact is that it is the manufacturing process that employs the greatest number of people. Take production away and a lot of people are out of work. When there is no meaningful work that brings in decent wages, society suffers. Any country that loses its manufacturing base loses its experience, expertise, and potential for self-sufficiency. In our opinon, and that of our New Zealand suppliers, this can never be a good thing. We hope you feel the same and support the "Kiwi-Made" campaign by buying merino gear that is really and truly "Kiwi-Made".

It is also wrong to assume that just because something is made from New Zealand merino, that it is made in New Zealand. The US company Smartwool produces a lot of gear using New Zealand merino, but it's production is based in Fiji and China as well as the US. The rule is always check the label if you want to know where something is made.

Check out our Eco-News page to read about the environmental problems being created in China by unregulated industries. Below is a pic sent to us showing Shanghai, the main textile center in China. Looks a lot different to the pics Icebreaker use in their advertising!

Chris in New Zealand, who sent us the pic, says

On the same site I found this pic they link to Readers Digest article showing that Shanghai is the second most polluted city in the world. Was this the criteria Jeremy Moon used for his "global search for world class technology and capacity"? I don't think so, and neither do the Kiwis who lost their jobs as a result. Moon shifted his production to China is because it's cheap.