New Zealand Cashmere is owned by Southern Otago farmers David & Robyn Shaw. Starting the herd in 1985 from 50 multicoloured feral does and 3 subsequent feral flock purchases they have constantly improved their animals. Those initial animals have been combined with outside bloodlines screened from tens of thousands of feral goats with naturally resilient qualities. The aim has always been to produce the most exquisite cashmere. The New Zealand goat industry grew rapidly at first, but by the 1990’s a number of factors had triggered the industry into collapse and decline.

The silver lining from this event was large numbers of goats and whole flocks became available. This has streamlined the Shaw’s cashmere development program. Through this period a number of prominent flocks and leading blood lines were acquired and introduced. Some of these flocks were populated by selections derived from apex breeding programs, which stemmed from tens of thousands of goats across New Zealand and Australia. From this diverse genetic base and with the careful and deliberate selection of sires, thousands of kids have been born over multiple generations. This has elevated the New Zealand Cashmere flock to a new level of animal capable of producing world class fibre.