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Vermont Organic Fiber - A Hidden Treasure

Tuesday May 8, 2007

By Dale Piper

    Perhaps Middlebury's best kept secret is Vermont Organic Fiber Company, a producer of certified organic wool and cotton fabric, yarn and commercial batting, located in a warehouse on Seymour Street. The company's founder, Matt Mole, grew up on a Vermont farm, raising beef cattle, and graduated from UVM, where he majored in Agricultural Economics.  That, combined with his farm upbringing, convinced him that rather than follow the traditional path of dairy or beef, a better path would be to find a niche market.  While in school he worked on a hemp research project, which intrigued him.  Knowing full well that there are still too many roadblocks to the commercial use of hemp in the state, he turned his attention to other fibers produced organically, primarily wool.

    He started the company in Burlington in 2000 after thoroughly researching producers of organically raised wool, and settled on producers in Australia.  The wool comes from Merino sheep, which oddly enough were established in Australia from stock purchased from Vermont in the late 1800s.  Through careful breeding programs, the sheep are superior to the foundation stock and produce abundant, high-quality wool.  

    Mole's company, operating under the brand name O-Wool, controls the process that his wool goes through, starting with the grower and moving though the broker, the exporter, the scouring (or washing) process, dyeing, spinning, knitting or weaving and ending with garment manufacture or retail knitting yarn.  The entire process is kept strictly organic, from the sheep in utero through distribution of the final product.  Feed and pasture are kept chemical-free, the animals are fed no antibiotics or hormones, and pest control (in and on the sheep, in barns and pastures and at the processing and warehousing facilities) includes no synthetic chemicals.  The high quality of the animals and their wool, and the “certified organic” appellation, is maintained through good management practices: nutrition, pasture management, vaccination and the immediate isolation of sick animals.  Even the dyeing process is kept to strict organic standards, using low-impact, fiber-reactive dyes which produce a wide spectrum of rich colors without the harsh chemical content of conventional dyes.

    To date, O-Wool is the fiber of choice of such brand names as Patagonia, Fox River Mills, Maggie's Organics, Timberland, Ibex and others.  O-Wool knitting yarn is available in 100% wool worsted weight and in “Balance,” a wool/cotton blend, both of which are available locally at Field Farm's Vermont Yarn Company on Route 7 South.  

    The company is looking to find more local markets for its products and is also looking for ways to work with and for the community.  Because the company has only been in existence since 2000 and in Middlebury since 2004, time, energy and money are at a premium and are needed to grow the business.  Also a priority is finding local investors for this company that, so far, seems to be doing everything right in terms of sustainability and the environment.  But Mole says they will find a way to be a presence on Earth Day and Vermont Green-Up Day.

    Mole's vision has proven to be a wise one, addressing so many of the concerns we now have about the environment, our health and the issue of sustainability.  On your next shopping trip, look for the O-Wool hand tag and know that the product has been produced according to the most rigorous standards.  And it looks good!

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