Merino Country’s 30-year milestone
Australian clothing brand Merino Country was established by Kerrie Richards 30 years ago on her family’s sheep and cattle station in Queensland to add value to the family’s raw Merino wool. The company has now grown to be one of the country’s largest retailers of Australian Merino wool clothing.
Now based between Brisbane and the Gold Coast, Merino Country produces a wide range of Australian Merino clothing. Its fabrics are knitted and dyed in Australia, with all its garments sewn in its own factory, employing local people and supporting its community.
As well as its underwear, thermals and activewear, the company’s product range includes a wide range of tops, dresses, skirts and accessories – all made from Australian Merino wool. While there is a strong focus on retail customers, Merino Country also supplies products to the Australian Defence Force, the Australian Antarctic Division and Victoria Police.
“Merino Country produces 100% Australian Merino clothing for men, women and children which is comfortable, durable and totally machine washable and ideal for everyday wear in hot and cold climates,” Kerrie said.
“We are involved in the whole of the supply and marketing chain and have developed our own innovative fabric that is ideal for everyday wear including the workplace, leisure, travel and industrial use.
“We work closely with Australian woolgrowers, processors and manufacturers and have input into the specifications of not only the raw wool, but also yarn types, fabric construction, design and manufacturing of garments.”
Merino Country owners Kerrie Richards and Malcolm Pain with their short hair border collie Millie.
Business began on the farm
The idea for Merino Country was born in the early 1990s during tough times for many rural communities with low commodity prices for beef and wool, drought and a huge drain of young people from country towns.
At this time, Kerrie was coordinating a state government program that was helping local groups and individuals identify opportunities and value-add to existing enterprises.
“One of these groups was a wool group called Matilda Merino and members wanted to know what happened to their wool once it left the farm gate and what it was actually used for,” Kerrie said.
“I helped initiate a number of projects including following wool through the value-adding chain to the end product and also promoting Australian Merino wool locally. This led to me developing my own business in value-adding to Merino wool and producing a range of Merino clothing.”
The company was launched in 1993 and was originally based in the shearers’ quarters at the family’s ‘Clareborough Station’ outside of Richmond in North West Queensland.
Thirty years on, Merino Country is now a well-established company that has gone from strength to strength. Owners Kerrie Richards and husband Malcolm Pain credit the success of their business to a combination of their grazing and farming background, an amazing team of people that have been with the company for many years and an incredible natural fibre, Australian Merino wool.
“At the beginning, we made a conscious decision to keep our production and manufacturing in Australia to support local jobs and industry and to have better control over our quality. This has definitely paid off for us during the past 30 years, particularly in the past few years during COVID,” Kerrie said.
Australian Merino wool central to business
As Merino Country continues to innovate and expand, Merino wool has remained fundamental to the company’s ethos and product range.
“We are proud that the Merino wool we use is grown in Australia, the best in the world. At the beginning, we named the company Merino Country partly because that's where we came from but also because Australia is the Merino Country, growing 80% of the world's Merino wool,” Kerrie said.
“I’m motivated by new projects, new goals, new customers, new products and the fact that people love our products so much! The thing I like most about what I do is using 100% Australian Merino wool to create products that provide solutions to our customers’ problems.
“I love seeing customers wear our product, and also hear where they’ve worn it. I’ve seen pictures from Defence personnel in Afghanistan wearing our thermals, to café scenes in Paris, breathtaking scenes in Mongolia and breast cancer patients getting relief with our bras! I love the diversity of our customers and our Australian made products.”
More information: www.merinocountry.com
This article appeared in the September 2023 edition of AWI’s Beyond the Bale magazine. Reproduction of the article is encouraged.
