Alpaca Fiber Info
The U.S. alpaca fiber market is still being developed. It is truly a work in progress and one that we are all hoping will develop sooner rather than later – hahahah! Currently, the alpaca fiber business is a combination of some cottage industry and some commercial processing. Until just a few years ago, most alpaca fiber was sold by the alpaca farm itself, usually directly to area knitters, etc. This can be really profitable, but it can take a LOT of time and the market is limited by the number of hand spinners or knitters in an area or within their online selling market. Now, with more and more alpaca fiber available, it is up to us, as alpaca breeders, to help create and supply the market that sits there…just waiting to be tapped.
In 1998 AOBA (Alpaca Owners & Breeder Association) started AFCNA (Alpaca Fiber Cooperative of North America) to create, promote, and market alpaca products for its members. There are also other coops popping up all over the USA.
Most people will say they are allergic to wool, when in reality they are actually sensitive to the prickle-factor that is often felt when the coarser fibers tickle the skin. Anything with over 5% microns over 30 will itch…no matter what animal the fiber came off of! Not all alpaca is luxurious just because it’s alpaca. Only fleeces that average under 22 microns with less than 5% fibers over 30 microns should be marketed as luxury fleece, to be worn against the skin. Other fleeces should be sold as medium or strong for use in outerwear or rugs.
Cashmere (from the hair of the kel goat) avoids the prickle stigma by requiring any fabric labeled as cashmere in the North American market to average 18.5 microns and have no more than 3% of the fiber over 30 microns. As a result, the cashmere image is one of luxury and consumers trust that it will be soft and comfortable. That is an example of smart marketing…everyone equates cashmere with luxury!
If you are going to sell alpaca fiber, yarn, roving etc. it would be a great idea to develop a relationship with your area spinners guilds and fiber arts guilds. You may have to join the organization, or pay for a booth space at an event…but those contacts can be very valuable to you, on every level!
Lower micron values + long staple + crimp + rich color = handspinner’s heaven! are also generally valued by handspinners. Most alpacas in the USA have micron counts of from 18 to 30 microns, but there are animals in the gene pool with much lower counts, so the opportunity is there!
In general, when breeders join a co-op/pool, there’s a fee involved, which is either a membership fee or a purchase of a share. Once a member, the breeder sends a portion of their clip each year after shearing to the coop. Some breeders send their entire clip, some process or sell some of it themselves and send the rest to their coop. Shipping can be costly, so, for example, AFCNA has regional collection points to reduce breeders’ shipping costs.
The fiber is then sorted by color, by fineness and type (huacaya or suri). It’s then either sold on the world market or processed. The coop then makes products using either the fiber or the money from the sale of the fiber, which it then sells to members at wholesale.
A BIG advantage to coops and fiber pools is the availability of finished goods. A pound of fine alpaca fiber can be sold for $48 (at $3/oz), yarn made from that pound of fiber can be sold for around $60, and a sweater made from that pound for up to $200.
When breeding for a commercial fiber market, breeders still continue to breed for fineness but are much more likely to also value production qualities like density and overall fleece weight, as well as characteristics that make a fleece easier to process commercially, like uniformity. In commercial processing, fiber is sorted into classes, so the specific qualities of an individual fleece are lost in the whole.
The alpaca fiber industry in the United States is young and growing, but already great advances have been made to ensure a market for the alpaca clip in the USA and to open new markets as supply increases.
