Woolworks

What Woolworks does

Woolworks New Zealand Limited is New Zealand's sole wool scouring service provider, operating the world's largest wool scouring facility with combined annual processing capacity of 116 million kilograms across three sites — Awatoto (50m kg, Napier), Washdyke/Timaru (51m kg), and Clive (15m kg). The company washes raw greasy wool to remove grease, dirt, and vegetable matter using biodegradable detergents, producing clean scoured wool for global textile manufacturers. Woolworks processes approximately 80% of the New Zealand wool clip, employs 11–50 staff, and is the only global supplier of pure New Zealand wool grease, which averages over 12.0% cholesterol content and is further processed into lanolin, pharmaceutical-grade Cholesterol NF (95% minimum purity), and Vitamin D3.

The company earns revenue through three streams: commission fees on wool scouring services sold directly to wool growers, manufacturers, and exporters (Woolworks deliberately does not trade wool itself, eliminating conflicts of interest); direct sales of wool grease and lanolin derivatives to global pharmaceutical and cosmetics manufacturers; and transaction fees on its WoolWorks Grower Direct (WGD) online wool marketplace, which sells wool physically located at Woolworks woolstores in Napier, Timaru, and Waipukurau to "all major NZ wool buyers." Customer segments are bifurcated: a long tail of thousands of New Zealand wool growers on the supply side and a global base of textile manufacturers, exporters, and pharmaceutical buyers on the demand side. Woolworks holds a comprehensive international certification stack including GOTS, Responsible Wool Standard, FernMark, NZFAP, REACH, EU Ecoflower, and SBTi-validated emissions targets.

Privately held since its 1999 founding by David Ferrier, Woolworks is currently owned by Tanarra Capital Partners (50%), David Ferrier (37.5%), and Silver Fern Farms Co-operative (12.5%, acquired October 2024). The company's near-term strategic agenda is centered on decarbonisation — including an 8 MW electrode boiler at the Washdyke site expected to reduce emissions by up to 12,000 tonnes per year — and on expanding its high-margin wool grease and lanolin derivatives business into pharmaceutical and cosmetics applications.

Name

Woolworks

Legal name

Woolworks New Zealand Limited

Website

https://woolworks.co.nz

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Woolworks is New Zealand's sole wool scouring service provider, operating the world's largest wool scouring facility with 116 million kg annual capacity across three sites. It processes approximately 80% of NZ's wool clip for global textile manufacturers and is the only global supplier of pure New Zealand wool grease.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Wool Processing and Scouring Services

NAICS

Textile Mills (313)

SIC

Textile Mill Products (2200)

akta.pro primary industry

Washing, Rinsing & After-Treatments (Soaping/Neutralizing/Enzyme Wash) (IMAOACAH)

Keywords

• Wool scouring services
• Wool grease supply
• Lanolin production
• Wool processing
• Wool brokerage services

Headquarters

HQ city

Napier

HQ country

New Zealand

HQ region

Oceania

Offices4 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Personnel, Infrastructure, Supply Chain, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Commission Wool Scouring Services: WoolWorks provides commissioned wool scouring services to wool growers, manufacturers and exporters. The company earns fees for processing raw wool and does not trade wool itself, avoiding conflicts of interest with customers. Fees are based on volume processed and services rendered.
2. Wool Grease and Lanolin Product Sales: WoolWorks extracts and sells wool grease recovered during the scouring process. Wool grease is sold as a raw material and further processed into products including lanolin, cholesterol NF, and Vitamin D3. WoolWorks is the only supplier of pure New Zealand wool grease globally.
3. WoolWorks Grower Direct (WGD) Marketplace: WGD operates a wool marketplace selling wool physically situated at WoolWorks Timaru or Napier wool stores. Wool is sold predominantly via an online sales platform fully supported by all major buyers of NZ wool, or by private arrangement. Payment is made 10 working days from date of sale.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Woolworks is New Zealand's only wool scouring service provider, operating the world's largest wool scouring facility with 116 million kg annual capacity across three sites. The company processes approximately 80% of the New Zealand wool clip on a commissioned basis, washing raw wool to remove dirt, grease and vegetable matter, and sells by-products including wool grease, lanolin, cholesterol NF and Vitamin D3 globally. Its WoolWorks Grower Direct programme provides a direct route to market for wool growers via an online sales platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• WoolWorks Grower Direct: A programme partnering directly with New Zealand wool growers to deliver a sustainable future with efficient, low-cost route to market for growers.

Products and services

• Commission Wool Scour Services Wool scouring service that washes raw wool to remove dirt, grease, mud, seeds and thorns, producing clean scoured wool for manufacturers worldwide. The process includes pre-scour treatment, automatic scouring with biodegradable detergent, drying, quality control, and pressing. Commissioned to wool growers, manufacturers and exporters.
• Wool Grease Natural wool grease extracted during the scouring process, high in cholesterol and vitamin D3. Woolworks is the only supplier of pure New Zealand wool grease in the world, with annual production exceeding 2,200 MT and cholesterol content averaging more than 12.0%. Sold to manufacturers of lanolin, cholesterol NF, and Vitamin D3.
• Lanolin Semi-solid wax derived from wool grease containing a mixture of sterols and medium to long chain fatty acids. Functions similarly to human skin lipids, making it skin-compatible for use in moisturisers, emollients, emulsifiers and ointment bases.
• Cholesterol NF Fine white crystalline powder made from wool grease with 95% minimum purity, used in the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industry. Serves as an unsurpassed emulsifying and moisturising agent in cosmetic applications and as the precursor to Vitamin D3 in pharmaceutical manufacturing.
• Vitamin D3 Dietary and medical supplement produced from cholesterol extracted from wool grease, used for human and animal consumption. Also being used in COVID-19 vaccines.
• WoolWorks Grower Direct Nationwide programme partnering directly with New Zealand wool growers to deliver a sustainable future for the wool industry. Provides an efficient, low-cost route to market for growers with woolstores in Timaru and Napier, an online sales platform supported by all major NZ wool buyers, and payment 10 working days from date of sale.
• Wool Testing and Certification Services In-house wool testing, certification services, and near infrared testing including scouring to GOTS standard, RWS Standard, organic processing, and EU Ecoflower certification. Provided as an add-on to wool scouring services.

Quantifiable outcome

• Scoured wool is the cleanest and brightest on the planet
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• New Zealand IWI (Indigenous Community)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNew Zealand Woolscouring Ltd, in partnership with local IWI (Māori indigenous community), embarked on a Karamu stream beautification project planting thousands of native trees along river banks to create natural habitat for Black Flounder fish.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves12 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Lempriere: Australian wool merchant, processor and trader. Lempriere was a prior WoolWorks shareholder (exited January 2022) and operates a vertically integrated wool scouring, top-making and trading business, directly comparable to WoolWorks' scouring-plus-grease model.
• Modiano Group: Italian-based global wool processor with scouring, top-making and grease recovery operations. Comparable as a vertically integrated wool processor servicing apparel manufacturers, with similar byproduct (lanolin/wool grease) economics.
• Tianyu Wool Industry: One of China's largest wool scouring and processing companies. Comparable as a large-scale industrial wool scourer supplying both domestic and export textile manufacturers, competing for global wool clip volumes.
• Fox & Lillie: Australian wool merchant and exporter with scouring and early-stage processing operations. Comparable as a wool broker/processor serving growers and manufacturers across the Oceania wool clip.
• H. Dawson Wool: One of the largest wool buyers and exporters in Australia and New Zealand, operating scouring and processing capabilities. Comparable as a vertically integrated wool processor with grower relationships across Australasia.
• Standard Wool: US-based wool buyer, processor and exporter with scouring operations. Comparable as a wool processing intermediary serving growers and global apparel manufacturers in a different geography.

Broad incumbents

• Chargeurs: French-listed group operating a wool services business among other industrial divisions. Comparable as a global wool-services incumbent offering scouring, top-making and fibre services to apparel brands at broader scale.

Regional players

• New England Wool: US-based wool processor and exporter operating grading, scouring and top-making. Comparable in core wool processing services though focused on the US wool clip and serving different end markets.

Others

• Croda International: UK-listed specialty chemicals company that produces lanolin and lanolin derivatives for cosmetics and pharmaceuticals. Comparable on the wool grease/lanolin side of WoolWorks' business as a downstream buyer and formulator.
• Itochu Corporation: Japanese trading house with a significant textile and wool trading/processing arm. Comparable as an adjacent ecosystem participant that procures scoured wool globally and influences pricing for processors like WoolWorks.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/woolworksnz
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/woolworksnz

Compliance9 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds3 records

Investors4 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Woolworks