Alpacas living in Peru typically graze freely. In Peru, Alpacas are treated with respect, as they are culturally and historically an important animal for the local people. There are only approximately 6 million alpacas in the world and around 4 million of them live in the Peruvian highlands. Even though alpaca wool has great and exceptional qualities, it is truly a rare material.

Compared to sheep and goats, alpaca is kinder to the environment. Belonging to the family of camels,  it has padded feet instead of hard hooves. Therefore, grazing alpacas do not cause soil erosion. They are also gentle for plants as they do not eat roots.

Alpaca wool is always mulesing free.

We have worked with our Peruvian partner since 2012, when Alpa Knitwear was founded. Our partner is specialised in alpaca wool and knows the best and the most sustainable practices for wool production. Our partner has their own farm, where from small amount of alpaca wool is gathered. Most of the alpaca wool comes from local small and medium sized farmers across the Andes. All the alpaca wool used in our products come from these smaller local farmers. 

Tracking the origin of alpaca wool in Peru has taken big steps ahead in recent years. Our partner has launched a service in which we as customers can track the origin of the alpaca wool we use in our products. The service allows us to know the region from which a specific batch of alpaca wool originates, and some of the wool can even be tracked down to the specific farmer.