NEAFP will be closed from 12pm Friday December 23rd until Wednesday December 28th @ 8am for our Christmas Break.

We will also be closing for New Years on 12pm Friday December 30th until 8am Tuesday January 3rd.

Thank you for an amazing year for all things U.S. Alpaca!!!

NEAFP will be closed Thursday Nov. 23rd and Friday Nov. 24th for our annual Thanksgiving holiday break.

We will be back at the mill on Monday Nov. 27th and will begin shipping out all orders that came in over the break in the order they were submitted.

Thank you and Happy Holidays!

The Holiday Sales rush is officially here and we are experiencing an extremely high volume of orders coming in for immediate shipment. We are working to stay on top of the queue but please plan for your order to take an extra business day (2 extra in extreme cases) for your order to process and ship out.

All orders are shipping out in the order in which they are placed so if you have a time sensitive order, the best way to ensure that it reaches you in time is to place it as soon as possible.

For the time being both USPS and UPS are on schedule for deliveries. We will keep an eye on both, if USPS or UPS starts to have delayed shipments we may remove that shipping option to ensure your packages are reaching you in a timely fashion.

UPS Ground Transit Map

USPS Priority Transit Map

Due to how USPS handles packages, please add 1 to 2 extra days to these estimates.

We started offering our BOLD Survival Socks in 2014 and over the years we have had a tremendous amount of requests for the Size Large to be available in Purple. We are happy to announce that starting today Purple in size Large is officially available and ready to ship!

(P.S. - More BOLD Survival - Size Mediums are just around the corner!)

To help celebrate and announce the new color option, we rounded up the Boys of NEAFP to show off the new socks!

original photo by Eastland Alpacas, Mount Joy, PA

National Alpaca Farm Days is just days away and hopefully your list of things to do is complete (ya right!). The social media posts are up and invites sent, the animal pens are set up, the alpaca products all properly priced, and the barn is perfectly clean (is it ever?!?).

As the Farm Days Alpaca open houses are just around the corner, here are 5 Ways your Open House can Increase Future Sales!

1) Collect Visitor's Contact Info

Whether it’s name, address, or just a simple email sign up sheet - it’s imperative that you get the contact info of all the alpaca enthusiasts that visit your farm this weekend. Even it’s just an email address, you can use that info to keep them informed on the rest of your holiday events, market locations, whats going on at the farm with the alpacas, and any new products or sale announcements you have planned for the Fall and Winter months!

2) Have Signage and Handouts for all your Upcoming Events & Markets

We all know that the true alpaca product sales season starts when the leaves are off the trees and the cool wind whips through the back fields. Make sure your open house visitors know where you, your alpaca products, and possibly even a few good alpacas will be setup next! It’s as easy as putting up a chalkboard, whiteboard, or printing out a flyer to handout that lists out all your upcoming alpaca related events.

3) Engage with your Visitors

We know alpaca farm visitors come in all shapes and sizes - some want to bring the grand kids to the alpaca farm to see the animals up close. Some are there to research the possibility of owning alpacas in the future, and some are just there for the free popcorn and more alpaca socks. No matter the reason, it’s important you or someone working the event engages each group to understand the reasons for coming. This will help you ensure they have a wonderful experience on the alpaca farm which will lead to future product and animal sales in the future.

4) Ask your Visitors “How did you hear about us?”

It’s now more important than ever to find out how your open house visitors are hearing about your alpaca event. In the age of social media and digital advertising, there have never been more avenues available to small businesses in reaching their target audience. By asking this simple question, perhaps on the email list, you can find out what marketing efforts worked the best so you can utilize them for future events & announcements and stop wasting $$$ on the ones that don’t.

5) Offer a Return Visitor Incentive

Give your visitors a reason to come back for more alpaca socks and maybe even bring a friend during the holiday season! Offer a small coupon, $1 OFF your next pair of alpaca socks, with each sale you make during the open house. You can structure this in a multitude of ways to fit your farm and products, just be sure to set a time limit so you have people coming back for more this year!

National Alpaca Farm Days is fast approaching!

Looking to place a last minute order in preperation for NAFD? We can make it work.

Choose UPS (most reliable shipping times) as your Shipping Option and put a note in Order Notes (Step 4 of checkout process).

UPS GROUND Transit Map

When to place your last minute orders by?

Yellow Cut OFF: Thursday 9am

Burnt Orange Cut OFF: Wednesday 9am

Maroon Cut OFF: Tuesday 9am

Orange Cut Off: Choose UPS 2nd Day Air after Tuesday 9am

We've started adding some new limited colors to our BOLD Boucle Mittens.

Atlantic Blue and EverGreen:

&

Royal Purple

These are limited runs done in select sizes so if you see a color you'd like, stock up while they are available!

NEAFP will be closed for the long Labor Day weekend & will re-open on Tuesday September 5th.

Thank you for an amazing August Summer Sale - we plan to be completely caught up with orders by Wednesday September 6th!

Shopping at the Fiber Price Point just got easier!

We are happy to announce we've made some improvements on how the shopping cart handles products at the fiber price point. All of our products listed in the fiber pricing category now have their Fiber Grade and Weight requirement listed prominently along side their $ cost.

As these products are added to your shopping cart, the fiber requirement for each product along with the total fiber requirement for your order in progress will automatically be tallied and displayed on the cart page.

The days of manually tallying your order's fiber requirement are over!

After your order is placed, the fiber requirement for each item as well as the total fiber weight and grade requirements will be listed on your invoice.

Updated Fiber Pricing Product Listing

Fiber Grade and Weight Requirement - View Cart Page

Per Product and Total Per Order

Is it a glove? Is it a mitten? It’s the best of both worlds! Our Alpaca Glittens offer the warmth of a mitten and the dexterity of Gloves, making them a perfect fit for hunting or any activity where you need quick access to your fingers. The mitt flap pulls back and attaches with a secure button, giving you digits free roam.

Harnessing the natural characteristics of U.S. Grown Alpaca fiber, our Glittens will keep you warm without the bulk, and are designed to hold up on any wilderness bound adventure. Alpaca fiber is also naturally moisture wicking, breathable,  and retains heat in both dry and wet conditions - making it a great insulator.

If the Fall and Winter weather tends to throw you for a loop like it does here in New England, then rest assured, our Alpaca Glittens allow full warmth and coverage, and the ability to stretch your fingers when it’s time to get to work.

Explore more with the help of our Alpaca Glittens.

Made in Adult Sizes: Small, Medium, and Large

Made in Fawn & Brown

Available now at both our Fiber and Wholesale price points!

Our Herringbone Scarves in Grey are back in stock and on the website!

Top Alpaca and Alpaca Related Hashtags to use on Instagram

#Hashtags can be used to complement photos shared on Instagram (and other Social Media platforms!) and help you discover new accounts and pick up followers. Some hashtags were created specifically for Instagram photo challenges — #ThrowbackThursday, for example, encourages users to post retro photos. By searching the hashtag on Instragram, you can pull up a gallery of everyone who has used it on a recent post.

When making a post to your Instagram's account, by adding related hashtags, you are giving a way for people interested in those topics / tags to find your photos and ultimately your business and farm. All things Alpacas are seriously trending right now, and there are thousands of alpaca enthusiasts who are searching Instragram daily for all photos posted with alpaca related hash tags. In order to expand your reach and increase your business's following, it's important to not only use alpaca related hashtags but other fiber, yarn, and textile tags as well.

By choosing 4 to 5 alpaca and alpaca related hashtags with each photo you post, you will slowly but surely increase your following as more like minded people interested in alpacas find your profile and follow your posts.

Listed below are some of our personal favorite alpaca related hash tags that we use regularly on our posts. Take a look and search a few on Instagram to find the ones that click with you and your business!

P.S. Get Creative! - #hashtags can be a fun way of posting indirectly related info to your photos! You can also even create your own hashtags for your farm and business and share them with your audience!

Our stock up sale has ended! Thank you!

We are excited to announce our annual Summer Stock Up Sale is officially live! We are offering Free Shipping on

large orders as well as offering select discounts on a handful of our newest products!

Free Shipping
on Orders $750+

&

10% OFF:
Outdoorsman Socks (Just Released!)
Convertible Shawls (Just Released!)
All Wrist Warmers
Big Cable Blanket
Irish Cable Afghan
Suri Lap Afghan
Mother Natures Blanket

Our Summer Stock Up Sale will run until the end of August so now is the time

to get stocked up for the quickly approaching Fall Season!

Sale Ends August 31st, 2017

We are excited to announce our newest sock: The Outdoorsman Boot Sock!

This new sock, The Outdoorsman Alpaca Sock, is a heavyweight boot sock. It has all the great features of our Survival Sock (Machine Wash and Dry, Ankle and Arch Support, Full Terry Loop Cushion matched with a reinforced nylon exoskeleton), but is 20% heavier for increased warmth & comfort. The Outdoorsman Alpaca Sock is also a boot length sock, fitting perfectly in between our crew height Survival Sock and our Over the Calf height High Calf.

With the news that AFCNA was closing their doors, we knew that it was important to keep the fiber they’ve collected and remaining Extreme sock yarn in production domestically to the benefit of U.S. alpaca farms. We’ve purchased all of AFCNA’s EXTREME Sock yarn and are using it to produce our new Outdoorsman Sock. We know farms across the country have done very well building a market for the heavy weight Extreme Sock. Our new Outdoorsman Alpaca Sock takes the best features of the Extreme, is made from the same yarn, and adds improved features to make it better than ever.

Sock Description

Our Outdoorsman Alpaca Sock is a heavyweight boot height sock designed to be the warmest, softest, most comfortable alpaca sock Made in the USA. For increased cushion and comfort, the interior contains a full alpaca terry loop knit. The inside of the sock has arch and ankle supports, ensuring a proper, snug fit each time they are worn. Outside, the Outdoorsman Sock sports a rugged nylon exoskeleton with reinforcement on the toe, arch, and heel areas – making it as durable as it is warm and comfortable.

The combination of the soft, warming alpaca terry loops against your skin with the reinforced exterior make a sock tough enough to stand up to whatever the great outdoors throws at it. Whether fishing, hiking, camping, lumberjacking, or just flat out enjoying Mother Nature, the Outdoorsman Alpaca Sock will keep you warm & cozy for as long as you need them to, no matter the conditions.

On top of being one of the softest, strongest, most insulating natural fibers available, Alpaca is moisture wicking, hypo-allergenic, and odor resistant - making it a perfect all natural fiber for socks destined to explore the great outdoors.

Contents: 75% U.S. Alpaca, 23% Nylon, 2% Lycra

Care Instructions: Machine Wash and Dry, See Label

We are very excited to announce our Convertible Alpaca Shawl.

Our brand new Convertible Shawl showcases a classic yet timeless cable knit, and adds a contemporary functional twist, all while utilizing soft alpaca fiber. You can mold this piece according to the weather, the occasion, or perhaps your mood, as you have the option to wear it as a classic shawl, a poncho, a scarf, or our new favorite, a “shnood.” Its versatility helps make this shawl the ultimate addition to any ensemble, whether you are going out for coffee, a work conference, or a holiday party. Acting as both apparel and an accessory, this will certainly be a go-to option for any occasion, while keeping you warm and snug. We have colors for all personalities and occasions—Stone Grey, Scarlet Red, Dark Teal, Caribbean Blue and Purple Haze.

NEAFP's mill and office will be closed for our annual summer break over 4th of July.

We will be closed Friday June 30th and re-opening Monday July 10th, 2017.

All orders and support that come in during this period will begin shipping out again on Monday July 10th in the order they were received.

Thank you and we hope you all have a fun, relaxing holiday!

Photo by Dave Cleaveland - Maine Aerial Photography

NEAFP's Guide to Fall River

For people who are familiar with our home, Fall River, Massachusetts, they probably know that it gets a bad rap—many would most likely never think of this city as a destination. We are here in efforts to change that mindset and prove that Fall River is a true diamond in the rough—not to mention incredibly rich in textile history. About a century ago, Fall River was one of the wealthiest cities in the entire country, due to it being considered the textile capital of the world. Fall River is lovingly referred to as the “ Spindle City” due to all the textile manufacturing mills here since the early 1800’s. Here at the New England Alpaca Fiber Pool, we are proud to continue the textile manufacturing tradition in the city that does it best.

Throughout the course of the year, we have hundreds of visitors coming from across the country to drop fiber, check out products, pick up orders, and get the 5 cent NEAFP tour. This little Guide to Fall River is our way of saying thank you for making the trek to NEAFP and to share some of our favorite spots in the city. NEAFP’s guide to Fall River has some of our favorite restaurants, bars and attractions, so that you can come down our way and make a day out of it! We feel it is important for you to experience who we are and where we come from so that you can fully appreciate what it is that we do, as well as your role in helping us do so. Thank you again for visiting, and we sincerely hope you enjoy your stay here in the Spindle City.

Download PDF: NEAFP's Guide to Fall River

Fall River: Make it Here.

NEAFP is excited to announce that we have simplified our ordering process by opening up the ability to purchase singles of each of our products! As NEAFP has grown and the volume of orders coming in has increased over the years, there have been certain aspects of our pricing model that did not scale. As we move forward, we felt it was time to re-visit our pricing model for both Fiber Pricing and Wholesale to make it simpler on your end while making processing and fulfillment more streamlined on ours!

Benefits of the Single Based Pricing Structure

• Whether you need 1 pair or 400, you can now order exactly what you want in each item, size, and color - No more minimum product packages or mixed dozens!
• No More Custom Order Notes - Specify size and color of each individual item as you add them to your shopping cart!
• Save More when you Buy More - we are still offering Quantity Discounts on the majority of our products!
• Know exactly what price point you are shopping from - Simplified Fiber Pricing and Wholesale Categories
• Straight Forward Fiber Requirements for each individual item if you buy 1 or 50 @ Fiber Pricing

Updated Sample Product Listing: Survival Socks @ Fiber Pricing

Once you've added enough for the quantity discount, it will automatically be applied to your shopping cart!

Simplified Categories - Fiber and Wholesale - Know Where You are Shopping!

Just Say No to Custom Order Notes - Specify Size and Color for each product you buy!

With the update in pricing structure, there are some price increases

We know there is never a good time to raise prices but with the structure update comes some increases. In the last few years, the majority of our manufacturers have increased our costs. We've been able to absorb these increases and keep the majority of our product's price the same for the last 3 years but we've gotten to a point where we have to increase our product pricing in order to stay sustainable.

We've thought long and hard on the best way to implement these increases, and after running several models we found one that fit. About half of our products received approximately a 5% increase at the 12+ quantity discounts. We wanted to keep the pricing increase as low as possible on our higher quantity purchases.

We've increased the single price point slightly more than the original 3 pack price points. Although you are paying a slight premium to buy 1 of something, we believe that it will allow people to try out new products & see what sells in their community. As you try out new products and find success selling them, you can order at higher quantities to receive the bulk price discounts.

With this change in pricing structure, we feel that we have simplified our pricing model for our customers while laying the groundwork for a processing and fulfillment system that reduces errors and increases scale-ability. For the last 20 years, NEAFP has helped thousands of alpaca farms of all sizes gain access to a variety of products Made in the USA on the commercial scale. With these changes, we are in a better position to continue to serve your growing needs for the next 20 years.

Thank you for your continued support, the U.S. alpaca fiber industry would not be where it is today without it!

-Chris & Shelley Riley
+ Sean, Mike, Ana, Brianna, Dave, Matt, Fatiha, Evan, & Corey

Alpacas are Seriously Trending

By Brianna Paon

If you currently have an alpaca farm, now is a perfect time to take advantage of utilizing your beloved animals to help increase your audience and customer base. Alpacas and camelids in general have been trending in media and advertising throughout the course of the past couple years. Through this steady exposure, people have been getting increasingly excited about alpacas even without knowing much about the animals. By putting your alpacas, farm, and products out there, it gives you a wonderful opportunity to expand your customer reach.

More than ever, alpacas and llamas have been featured in articles, news segments and commercials -- on average, people are generally more familiar with these animals now than they ever have been in the past. The impact of this increase in awareness has become so prevalent that people are beginning to include them in some of the most important days of their lives! With the joy alpacas bring with their smiling faces, who wouldn’t want them present? Could these wedding photos be any more perfect?

via IHeart - Wedding Trends

Alpaca shows have generated a lot more foot traffic these days due to giving people the opportunity and incentive to interact with the animals. We have been seeing more and more “alpaca selfie booths” where people can have their very own picture with an alpaca. Additionally, shows have included an alpaca costume contest, where typically a child will pair up with an alpaca for a duo costume role. These are the kind of experiences people are looking for -- once they can engage with the animal and appreciate it for what it is, there will likely be sparks of curiosity for the benefits, overall caretaking and use of the animal and its fiber.

Large companies such as Bank of America have been hopping on the camelid themed bandwagon with their #LLOVEYOURAPP campaign, where they feature a talking llama to advertise their banking app. It is obvious that llamas have nothing to do with Bank of America’s business, but their overall likeability, and the general public's curiosity for them, make them a perfect fit in their advertising campaign.

If you keep your eyes peeled, you will notice a more prominent alpaca / camelid theme showing up in retail stores. Whether it be clothing, stuffed animals, or home decor, these animals are on the rise more than ever before. Although these products are not made from alpaca fiber themselves, they increase the general public’s awareness of alpacas and the camelid family as a whole. As the “brand” of alpaca increases, more people are having their interest piqued in regards to these animals, the farms in their communities, and ultimately the products made from their fiber.

A great example of an alpaca who has gone viral on the internet is Chewy out of Adelaide, Australia. He belongs to a 14-year-old boy named Matt whose parents disagreed on getting him a dog, and instead surprised him with an alpaca. There is nothing in particular about Chewy that has made him a worldwide internet sensation other than his social media outreach. People are able to follow Chewy’s life through Instagram at @chew_paca, an account that has nearly 25,000 followers. The entire account contains cute photos of Chewy partaking in everyday activities with his human, Matt. Chewy may have a more exuberant life than most alpacas, but that is because he is treated as the literal equivalent of a pet dog in this family.

One takeaway from the Chewy phenomenon is the power of social media to reach your target demographics and bring exposure to your farm and alpacas! Thousands of people have become newly educated on alpacas solely because Chewy was all over news stations and online publications, and those stations wouldn’t have discovered Chewy if it weren’t for his internet presence, especially on Instagram. One thing that is of primary importance on Instagram is the use of hashtags. This is the number one way to reach new people and cater to their exact interests. For example, you can simply hashtag #Alpaca or you can choose something on a bit of a wider scale, such as #MadeInTheUSA or the increasingly trending #KnitPicks hashtag. Be sure to check out some other all-star alpaca accounts as well such as @alpacasofinstagram and @alpaca.gram -- take a look at their photo content and use of hashtags to see how they’ve become successful in spreading the alpaca love!

If you’re in the alpaca business, you have quite the upper hand considering how much of an internet and media sensation alpacas have become. To most, alpacas are still exotic creatures that they don’t get the opportunity to see -- people are unaware that there is most likely an alpaca farm closer to them than they think. Take advantage of the excitement these animals bring to people. Perhaps offer an “alpaca selfie booth” at your farm or next event -- give your customers incentives towards your products if they share their alpaca selfie on social media with your farm name tagged in it. That way their friends can see and share it, giving your farm more exposure to the public, expanding your potential customer base and bringing more awareness in the community to your farm. Many people, especially a younger crowd, love new experiences just as much as they love new products. Luckily for you, you can give them both with these adorable and fascinating animals!