Elders has negotiated the world rights for traceability technology to track wool used in carpets. Put simply, it is the equivalent of micro-chipping wool, said Elders general manager Stuart Chapman.

Verifi TT was a collaboration with AgResearch in partnership with an Australian company that includes the leading research institute CSIRO.

There is nothing to compare with it in the world, an enthusiastic Mr Chapman said.

AgResearch claims the Verifi TT will revolutionise the international textile market by eliminating fraud and protecting valuable brands. To date there had been no way of verifying carpet brands claiming wool origin or components, however this latest technology makes it possible.

Verifi TT is an invisible synthetic fibre dosed with a unique signature marker using a patented process, which is then licensed to Elders.

The fibre can be blended with the wool at any stage of the manufacturing process.

A small handheld device is run over the carpet and gives a reading of the wool’s origins – in this case Elders – or informs that it is made of composition fibres.

The verifier is the final link between the grower and the retailer and was pivotal to Elders securing major supply contracts with the American carpet retailer CCA.

“They knew we had it but what sold them is the environmental credibility we are setting up with it,” Mr Chapman said.

CCA invests heavily in educating its retailers on how to successfully sell carpets.

Its retailers will have the tracers supplied to them and use them to demonstrate to consumers the authenticity of Elders’ carpets.

This revolutionary technology will enable Elders to differentiate its wool and therefore maximise its value.

Mr Chapman said its carpets would be pitched at the very top end of American consumers, mainly professionals who think nothing of paying premiums for interior products and changing their carpets when they tire of a particular colour.