Icelandic Wool Producers Warn Of Imported Counterfeits

As Icelandic manufacturers work overtime to meet the growing demand for wool, local producers warn of foreign wool sold as Icelandic.

“We have grown used to knock-offs and cheating,” Guðjón Kristinsson, the managing director of Ístex, one of Iceland’s largest wool producers, told Vísir. “There are very few who mark their products as 100% Icelandic wool.”

Ístex, like many Icelandic wool manufacturers, have been working double shifts to meet the growing demand; in particular, for the traditional Icelandic sweater, the lopapeysa.

Guðjón cautions that buyers should be aware of what exactly they are buying. Some products, while made from wool manufactured abroad, are made to look Icelandic. At the same time, some products use a blend of wools, which may or may not include Icelandic wool.

Until stronger legislative measures are put in place, potential buyers are advised to only buy Icelandic wool products from trusted sources, and to be sure that these products are marked as 100% Icelandic wool.