For one episode the Wool Academy podcast is being taken over by Planet Wool - a Podcast by the International Wool Textile Organisation. As this episode is launching on 3 May 2017, the 86th IWTO Congress is taking place in Harrogate, United Kingdom. The IWTO Congress offers 3 full days of excellent wool industry speakers and networking opportunities. Wool Academy is of course also attending the event to secure some more amazing interviews for the podcast.

This episode gives all Wool Academy listeners a taste of the IWTO Congress. In 2016, The IWTO Congress took place in Sydney, Australia. All presentations from that event have been recorded and published as the Planet Wool Podcast. In this Wool Academy episode, you can listen to one of these presentations.

The speaker is Craig Vanderoef, Senior Director Global Running Apparel and Customization at Adidas. Craig talks about growing the next generation of wool in sports. He particularly talks about how to communicate to the generations called Gen Y and Gen Z. He also points out how retail brands and the wool industry can work closely together to deliver innovative products to these younger consumers.

If you want to listen to more presentations, go to Soundcloud.com and search for Planet Wool. A total of 28 great episodes awaits you there. The Planet Wool podcast covers topics such as wool market trends, sustainability, consumer trends, education and retail.

Pedro Otegui from wool combing mill Lanas Trinidad in Uruguay gives an overview of the Uruguayan wool market in general and introduces his family company Lanas Trinidad. Pedro explains how Lanas Trinidad manages to be self-sufficient in terms of the mill's water and energy consumption always keeping the environment in mind. Lanas Trinidad also complies to many accreditation and licenses and Pedro explains the benefit of the same. Furthermore, Pedro discusses the issues the industry faces as more and more farmers disengage from wool production. In this episode, you will also learn from Pedro what is so special about Uruguayan wool and how farmers are committed to high animal welfare standards.

Pedro Otegui is the Director at the wool combing company Lanas Trinidad in Uruguay. Lanas Trinidad is the main producer and exporter of combed wool tops in Uruguay. Pedro is the 3rd generation of the Otegui family working in the company which was founded in 1916.

Robert Ryan holds various leading positions within the Australian Wool industry. In this episode, Robert explains the different activities and roles of the organisations he is leading which gives a great overview of the set up of the Australian wool industry. 

Robert Ryan has 40 years of experience in the wool industry. He is the current Chairman of the Federation of Australian Wool Organisations and Member of the Board of Directors of the National Council of Wool Selling Brokers of Australia. In addition to these roles, Robert is also the Managing Director and Chairman of the Board of Schute Bell Badgery Lumby, Woolbrokers and Stock and Station Agents in New South Wales and Queensland. Schute Bell commenced trading in 1906. In June 1996, Robert was elected to the Council of the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW Australia and has held a number of positions on various Committees. He was Chair of the Sheep and Wool Committee from 1999 – 2009 and was elected President of the Royal Agricultural Society of NSW in June 2014. A Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for services in the wool industry was awarded to Robert in June 2014.