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10 June 2004
By David Everist
Business man and woolgrower Charlie Chick Olson will bring a refreshing approach to agri-politics in his role as chairman of Australian Wool Growers Association.
This week Mr Olsson agreed to take over the reins from former incumbent Will Crozier of Coleraine, who believes the job should move on the give the industry a new focus and fresh new ideas.
Every thing about Mr Olsson does not fit the typical rural agricultural
stereotype.
He grew up in Sydney as a member of the Olsson family who are known Australia
wide for a corporate involvement with animal feed supplements.
It was Mr Olsson’s very regular visits to a family property at Goulburn that sowed the seeds of his love and passion for wool growing and the wider industry.
Recently he managed to buy half the original Goulburn property from his
family.
This is where he would have you believe he heads to recharge his sanity.
The property supports a 2000 odd ewe flock that are joined to Grathlyn
merino rams.
In addition Mr Olsson has his own feed supplement business that is based
in Brisbane.
A location he describes as ideally located geographically to the major eastern Australian livestock breeding operations. He made the point that Perth is not far way when you can send product on a ship.
The greater proportion of the sales of his Four Seasons products is through agencies such as Landmark and CRT.
What he brings to the wool industry is a fierce desire to succeed and for wool growers to enhance incomes from market penetration and stability.
He candidly points out that his business relies upon the fortunes of farmers. “ The fact is 50% of my sales are to wool growers, so I have a vested interest in their long term viability and success.”
Mr Olsson has had stints in marketing which gave him an insight to what works and what does not work .
His believes the marketing of wool has been put into the too hard basket .
“We are asking growers to produce a product that most of the time they do not know whether there will be a viable market or price structure.”
He believes the marketing future of the industry should evolve around the on-going market awareness of the Woolmark logo and consumers who demonstrate preparedness pay for quality.
“Look at the cars they are driving , how much they pay for houses, how much they spend on dining out and how much they spend on holidays. We do not need to make excuses for the price of woollen products and certainly do not have any worries on quality.”
He said apart from the throw away mentality tag contemporary consumes had been saddled with they are also prepared to pay for quality, style and fashion.
Mr Olsson said he was well aware of the restrictions placed on AWI in relation to marketing and grower submissions to the wool task force in 1999 but things have changed dramatically since then.
He believes the very low national wool clip is sounding bells in many quarters with major concerns that further falls in production will make even the most loyal processors look to alternatives.
The role of the Australian Wool Growers Association is to bring all facets of the industry together and thrash out ideas that will enhance demand. The machine washable suit developed with funding from AWI is firmly in the marketing sights of Mr Olsson.
“Here is an opportunity to get behind an exciting product that should have enormous market appeal,” he said.
The good news for the wool growers is that Mr Olsson is prepared to dedicate two years of his busy time towards promoting the wool industry.
By David Everist
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