A Small Mongolian Company Promotes Traditional Cashmere Wool Production
Cashmere wool is a world-renowned luxury product and one of the most expensive natural wools on the market. Erdene Naidan is the co-founder of Zuzu, a small company that manufactures cashmere products in Mongolia, the ancestral and second-largest producer of cashmere globally. Zuzu promotes traditional herding, Mongolian heritage, and its philosophy of harmony with nature.
Growing up in Khovd Province, in western Mongolia, Erdene dreamed of learning about people, countries, and cultures. She planned to study abroad after high school, but her dreams were shattered when the country transitioned from a socialist to a market economy and stopped offering tuition to young students to study in other socialist countries, such as the former Yugoslavia, Poland, or Russia.
Instead, she attended the Faculty of International Relations at the Mongolian National University as a means to achieve her goal, graduating with a Bachelor's degree. She furthered her studies at the University of Finance and Economics with a degree in Economics.
After graduating in 1995, Erdene began her professional career at state-owned Gobi Cashmere, the largest export company at the time. By marketing the products to foreign customers, Erdene gained a deep understanding of the production chain and fulfilled part of her childhood dream by learning about different cultures and natural environments.
The Golden Fleece of Mongolia: Cashmere, a Luxury Fiber
“Cashmere comes from the undercoat of the cashmere goat’s fleece, so it is really soft,” Erdene explained, stating that cashmere wool is four or five times softer and warmer than sheep wool, and it is very light. For example, she said, a cashmere scarf measuring 180 x 50 centimeters weighs only 120 grams. “In winter, when the temperature ranges from -25 to -30 ° C, I only have cashmere pants, a cashmere sweater, and a lightweight cashmere coat.”
Cashmere wool has been produced in Mongolia for centuries. In the 1990s, the country was the major supplier of raw cashmere. After the transition to a market economy, some companies started to establish factories to manufacture value-added products.
Unique Property of Mongolian Cashmere
According to Erdene, Mongolian cashmere is well-known for its exceptional quality. The Mongolian harsh climate, with subzero temperatures in winter and hot summers, combined with traditional herding, led to Mongolian cashmere being of higher quality than China’s, its main competitor and current largest global supplier.
Cashmere quality is determined by its fineness, measured in microns. According to Erdene, the average diameter of Mongolian cashmere is 16.5 microns, which places it in the range of the finest quality. Additionally, she said, the exceptional length of the fiber, ranging from 38 to 42 cm, puts it well ahead of its competitors.
Preserving Mongolia’s Steppes with Sustainable Cashmere Production
In 2009, Erdene’s career took a new turn. By then, Gobi had been privatized in 2007, and the company governance had changed, she said. Erdene left and joined the Green Gold project, an initiative funded by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, which aimed to promote sustainable rangeland management and improve the livelihoods of herders’ communities. “I was interested in the project because one of my passions is to contribute to developing Mongolian livestock by preserving traditional methods and also advancing the technology.”
Although Mongolia has developed a solid mining economy, particularly in the 1990s, which promoted it to the upper-middle-income country group in 2024 (World Bank classification), 35% of households depend entirely on livestock husbandry, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and accounts for over 10% of the country’s GDP, making it the second-largest contributor after the mining industry. The sector includes goats, sheep, cattle, camels, yaks, and horses. The country, however, is suffering from overgrazing.
During the project, Erdene explained, herders were taught how to preserve their pasture rangeland and to enhance the value of their livestock products through value-added processes. Camel wool prices, she said, were multiplied by 3 or 4 since the project.
Zuzu, Producer of 100% Quality Cashmere Made 100% Traditionally
In 2019, while on maternity leave, Erdene had time to reflect on the next step in her career now that the first stage of the Green Gold project was over. Building on her husband Enkhbayar’s expertise in production at Gobi and her experience in business and marketing, they decided to launch Zuzu.
Discussing a company name with Enkhbayar, they wanted to express their philosophy, which combines quality and traditional methods. They came up with Zuzu, after a sweet sound made to attract baby goats or other newborn livestock (zuzu zuzu), and also means 100-100, like 100% quality and 100% traditional. (100% eco natural)
Zuzu employs four full-time employees, including Erdene and her husband, and six to eight part-time employees who work from home, handling the final sewing and hand knitting.
The company produces an average of 50,000 pieces of clothing and accessories annually, including hats, scarves, jumpers, gloves, coats, socks, and home textiles. “I prefer to produce items that can be worn by men and women alike, and in one size because several people can wear them in a family.” “I want my products to be long-lasting, economical, and environmentally friendly,” she said.
Dulaan Cashmere: Woven with Warmth, Inspired by Love
Dulaan is Zuzu’s brand name. It is registered in Mongolia, and behind the name is a story of love and warmth, both of which Dulaan means.
When Erdene was a child, she fell ill and, from the age of 8 to 10, regularly skipped school. Nobody found out what was wrong with her. The days she went to school, her dad, Naidan, waited for her to walk home. “He always held my hand,” she said. “Even in the wintertime, when the temperature plummeted to -35 degrees Celsius, my dad never wore gloves, but his hands were always warm.” “So when I was looking for a name for our brand, I thought about the warmth and encouragement that my dad gave me through his warm palm.”
Dulaan Weaves a Direct Path from Mongolia to You
Zuzu primarily produces for other companies, with only 10 to 20% of its trade going to direct clients. Without a store or an internet site, Erdene meets her private customers at regional or international fairs, such as the Berlin Bazaar, an annual global trade fair that gathers several hundred manufacturers from 60 countries. The Mongolian government, through its “Made in Mongolia” initiative, occasionally supports SMEs in attending international fairs in Australia, Canada, and Europe.
However, Erdene aims to have her trademark recognized internationally through online sales. For the moment, her products are labelled by her clients, “no one knows that behind those labels there is a small Mongolian factory and company, with a story.” Through Dulaan, Erdene aims to promote Mongolian culture, the traditional herding system, and the reasons why Mongolian cashmere is of exceptional quality.
As a small, family-owned company, Zuzu also wants to inspire young people and show them the uniqueness of Mongolia’s cashmere. “We want to help them create unique value-added products that we can be proud of, and attract them to the same philosophy.”
Erdene participated in the WIPO project “Empowering Asian Brands to Enter the Chinese Market through IP Protection, Effective Branding Strategies, Market Development, and Commercialization,” which started in 2024. She benefited from one-on-one mentoring sessions on IP registration and protection in China, as well as customized branding and marketing strategies. Additionally, she received a Chinese online market analysis and recommendation, and participated in the WIPO IP Management clinic in 2025.
