NZ wool tech firm to offer face masks for Asian consumers in polluted areas
TexusFibre, an Auckland, New Zealand-based company that develops functional materials derived from natural wool, has signed a wide-ranging distribution agreement with Healthy Breath Limited (HBL), another Auckland company, to deploy its wool-based Helix Filter in a new generation of urban face masks marketed to Asian consumers.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), seven million die every year due to poor air quality, with urban air pollution accounting for four million of these fatalities.As a result, consumers in countries such as India and China buy facemasks worth US$2 billion per annum – with double-digit sales growth every year.
Now New Zealand woolgrowers are poised to claim a significant chunk of this market with the introduction of a revolutionary air filter derived from a program supported by specially bred high-country sheep.
TexusFibre’s Helix Filters harness and enhance wool’s unique functionalities such as electrostatic performance and toxin removal. The ‘active’ wool fiber structure uses the fibers’ unique biological properties to keep the filters drier and performing at optimum levels for longer. In urban face masks, this means easier breathing with greater health protection.
Texus CEO Nick Davenport believes New Zealand is perfectly equipped to move wool up the value ladder with products that have a natural competitive advantage.
“We’ve created something unique – an end-to-end supply chain which starts by getting the supply genetics right and goes right through to the manufacture of a high-value, scientifically verified product here in New Zealand,” Nick said.
HBL has taken a stake in TexusFibre to build on the work developed over five years by Texus and its research partners who include Wool Industry Research Limited, AgResearch, AgMardt, Callaghan Innovation, NZTE and Nexus Foams Limited. Current investors include NZVIF, Global from Day One fund (GD1), Sparkbox Investments, Seraph VC and K1W1.
Wei Gao, the CEO of HBL, is excited about the potential of this new partnership.
“We are pleased to enter into this partnership with TexusFibre. We are focused on developing products that will utilize TexusFibre technologies and getting these products into the hands of consumers.”
TexusFibre Chairman, Dr. Andrew West said, “At the very heart of this is a New Zealand story, that of high-country sheep producing the world’s greatest natural fiber.
“Through this deal New Zealand wool is going to improve the health of millions of people across the planet. In so doing, TexusFibre and Healthy Breath want to recognize the commitment of New Zealand’s sheep farmers by paying them a premium for what is, in all reality, an absolutely premium product – wool.”
Category: Features, Technology & Devices
