Merino socks ‘sustainably brand’ Tassie in the US

Best socks ON the planet, best socks FOR the planet help Tassie tourism

Tassie’s latest Tourism Talk Newsletter tells how EcoMerino socks have become part of an initiative to raise awareness of Tasmania in North America as a holiday destination.

The way the story goes is that Teko Socks, a leader in the Outdoor Industry from Boulder, Colorado, is committed to supporting sustainable development. After a buying trip to New Zealand failed, CEO Jim Heiden says by chance he received a letter from Roberts Wool, Tasmania, explaining the benefits of Tasmanian merino.

After a visit to Tas it was a done deal and all of Teko’s high quality EcoMerino wool – from which they weave a range of outdoor socks at a mill in North Carolina – now comes from one holistically sustainable Tasmanian farm, Downie-Dungrove.

Teko is using the Tasmania story as a cornerstone in its publicity program behind the new range of socks, so the Teko Team manning the booth sported new t-shirts with the Tourism Tasmania logo on the back. There were also Tourism Tasmania representatives and other business interests there to support Teko.

A sweepstakes prize of a trip for two to Tasmania was also promoted to Teko’s dealer network prior to the Show.

Apparently the booth was ‘continually busy’ over the five days of the event which attracts buyers from across the US and Canada as well as Europe and Asia. This year the event attracted more than 20,000 participants and 1,000 exhibitors from the active outdoor recreation industry.

Tourism Tasmania is now looking to develop additional partnerships with Teko and retailers such as LL Bean, REI and Orvis to raise further awareness of Tasmania the destination.

About Teko & EcoMerino Wool
The EcoMerino wool fits well with Teko’s ‘No compromise’ commitment to sustainability.

Teko follows a core concept of sustainability: Triple-Bottom line accounting. This is maintaining one’s economic, environmental and social value or People, Planet, and Profit. Teko’s EcoMerino wool is ‘groundbreaking’ in that the company has a ‘chain of custody’ from the farm to the sales rack. Using a sustainable farm and then tracking the wool throughout the production supply chain allows Teko to declare its wool sustainable.

About Downie-Dungrove farms
The Downies have been practising holistically sustainable techniques for over 150 years. As a sustainable farm, they have only as many sheep as the land can naturally sustain. Their herd management is designed to replicate natural migration patterns of buffalo and other herding animals. This allows the land and natural vegetation to perpetually maintain itself without the use of pesticides or fertilizers. Considering more than sheep, Downie-Dungrove is also working with the World Wildlife Fund and Green Peace to certify its sustainable timber harvesting practices.

The Downie family and the State Government are currently negotiating a Conservation Covenant over 10% of their land area that contains plant communities and plant and animal species under threat from land clearance and poor land management practices.