Alpaca fleece characteristics are:  fine, glossy, silky, and soft. If the fleece is chalky on the underside it is less desirable. It becomes more expensive when it is closer to your ideal. It is easier to breed Alpacas with better fleece characteristics than to breed out genetic defects.   Each Alpaca produces anywhere from 3lbs to 10lbs of raw fleece.  They are shorn once per year.  The fleece is comparable to cashmere but easier to produce.  It is stronger, warmer and more resilient than the finest sheep's wool.




In order to demonstrate the conformation and fleece characteristics of their alpacas. Alpaca judging is by relative comparison in the show ring and it's much easier to win a blue ribbon at a small regional show. All winners get blue ribbons, but not all of them are equal. 
Alpaca fleece comes in at least 20 different colors.  It is very popular with fiber artists and consumers.
There are many processing mills in North America.