Alpaca Meet and Greet: Escobedo

One of our newest babies was born just in time to meet a beloved member of the Alpacas of Montana family. As a result of his timely nature, this adorable little alpaca is named after Juan Escobedo. 

So who is Juan Escobedo?

Juan Escobedo is a Sales Manager for IncAlpaca in Arequipa Peru. Juan’s mother was a teacher for elementary school kids and then was an administrator for many years. His dad was a Policeman, who later in life became an Accountant. As time went on Juan’s parents decided to go into farming for business and have been doing that for a while now. Juan went to school for Industrial Engineering. After school he started working at IncAlpaca as a Knitting Technician. He then went to attend training in Japan for a month at a time to become a Machine Programmer. He worked as a Chief Machine Programmer for about 15 years then moved into an Operations Manager position. About 10 years ago he became a Sales Manager and has been doing that ever since. He’s always been involved in product development on the side and works closely with James to develop and perfect many of our products. He’s a very well rounded and exceptional man, who knows what machine needs to make what product with what type of yarn for which knits. He married at 27 and has two kids who both went to University. 

Juan told us that “[we] are developing new techniques and fabrics and that innovation makes the difference” between us and everyone else in the textile industry. James asked Juan if the work we do with IncAlpaca is interesting for him and he replied, “yeah because it’s challenging and my whole life is in development so I enjoy the challenges”. 

James loves being able to design his own yarns and fabrics and working with Juan allows him to do this. This unique partnership sets Alpacas of Montana aside from any other company in the world. James and Juan work together closely to create revolutionary products that aren’t available anywhere else. From the yarn design to the product design, it’s a team effort to make the best products we possibly can. 

Sustainability is important to IncAlpaca, just as it is to us here at Alpacas of Montana. We’re constantly looking for new ways to reduce our footprint. Juan and James have been working closely together for a long time to develop a recycled alpaca fiber line. This means that the fiber that would normally get thrown away will instead be used in new Alpacas of Montana products. These products will also be less expensive than the rest of our collections with the hope that we will create greater access to our most sustainable gear. Keep your eyes out for the new product drop of these awesome Recycled Alpaca Sweaters and don’t forget to shop small this holiday season!