|
|
GOOD BUSINESS December 20052O05 & ALL
THAT
HELLO
AGAIN. In
theory I would
write like this at least twice a year but since WONDERWORLD set
sail as a sleek, efficient double-hander with just me as captain and cabin
boy and Martyn Street at the harpoon it has not
happened, sorry. BUSINESS
wise we were in the doldrums through to March, caught the breeze with
‘better late than never shipments’ from April till September,
unexpectedly becalmed again in October, but then healthily thrashed
on a righteous course by gales in November.
December has been a pleasant cruise with fresh gusts continuing
until the time of writing.
Some retail analysts are predicting Xmas Eve consumer hurricanes
through our shops due to the fall of Xmas dates this year.
Let’s hope so! THIS
year we netted lots of new customers, largely through our website, which
had traffic more than double since this time last year.
Our revised policy of buying more variety in smaller quantity paid
off, most new lines were turned over quickly.
Amongst the innovations that worked best, you’ll be seeing more
simple designs on bleached cotton scarves, more dragonflies, more
butterflies and more embroidered velvet.
There are some old lines to liquidate, a New Year Sale Sheet is
enclosed.
I am away January
5th-18th
so probably best to order from before then to make the most of the sale
offers. WAREHOUSE & DESPATCH SERVICES AVAILABLEQUITE
a number of retailers take the opportunity to travel abroad and acquire
stock. They
are snatching the bread from the mouths of the children of their
friendly wholesale suppliers, but otherwise it is obviously quite a
wise move to bolster
retail profits.
Some also hope to get a wholesale operation off the ground on the
back of their retailing.
Some succeed, but others find the competition for time and
resources between retailing and wholesaling does not work,
wholesaling never reaches critical mass, all the imported stock has
to filter through the shop, tying up money for longer than is wanted.
SINCE
we have some spare warehousing capacity we may be able to offer a flexible
partnership opportunity that helps retailers to wholesale excess imported
stock. Arrangements
could be made for simple order fulfilment or for inclusion in the
WONDERWORLD catalogue and website for exposure to our existing customer
list.
Such partnerships could be pursued on a commission basis. THE
benefits for WONDERWORLD would be making better use of the space I am
already renting and, where new goods are included in the WONDERWORLD
marketing in some way, being seen to
offer more variety to our customers.
IF
this makes sense then give me a ring & we can talk about it – 0113
285 3517.
FAIRTRADE COTTONS ONTHE
Fairtrade Foundation recently extended their well known Fairtrade
brand label to include seed cotton.
A container of garments made from Fairtrade seed cotton will
be arriving in the UK very soon courtesy of Traidcraft. Many
congratulations to all concerned, the Fairtrade branding system is
an invaluable tool, currently the best we have available, to assure
consumers that fair trade values are authentically realised in chains of
production. THE
Fairtrade Foundation built their reputation in the field of agricultural
commodities where global market conditions and purchaser power have so
often left poor farmers unable to recover the true costs of production,
let alone a reasonable profit for their harvests.
Naturally seed cotton, an agricultural product, is the first place
that they bring their expertise to bear in textile production chains where
countless millions work and where fair trade as a credible world changing
movement needs to take effect.
NOW
discussions are taking place to extend the Fairtrade brand label
further through cotton textile production chains so that the consumer can
be assured that everyone involved has got a fair deal.
One could say that, with the certification of seed cotton in place,
the easy bit has been done (though nothing to do with making fair
trade work sustainably is easy in any field).
Lets touch on some of the challenges still to be faced.
WE’LL
assume the farmers, and everyone who works for them, are happy.
We have lovely large fluffy bales of Fairtrade seed cotton
ready for the next
processes.
From that point the cotton must be ginned, combed, carded, spun and
woven to make the textile fabric.
Then the textile is 'confected' into different products with
processes such as dying, tailoring, finishing and packaging coming into
the picture. ALL
these processes can take place in large, mechanised units or they can be
performed by artisans using traditional methods, producing different types
of fabric as a result.
These different situations must interact with the ideals of fair
trade and with the introduction of the Fairtrade brand in different
ways. IT
IS going to be complicated.
Many established fair trade organisations involved in producing
cotton textiles might expect to be included into the high profile, high
credibility Fairtrade brand system.
The correspondence between the fair trade 'pioneers' and the Fairtrade
labellers reflects the sensitivity of the issue.
Worries have been expressed that small-scale artisan based units
they represent will find it very difficult to fulfill the requirements of
a model established in the field of agricultural commodities.
SOME
have suggested that the proposals seemed to focus on larger scale,
formally organised production units where the standards sought are barely
more than International Labour Organisation minimums, and offer very
little toward the objective of empowerment which is supposed to define the
Fairtrade approach from ‘ethical’ trade. THERE
is concern that consumer confidence in the credibility of the whole fair
trade project could be undermined if there are seen to be different
systems and standards at work.
I think that different fair trade systems and standards are
inevitable.
Consumers and activists will have to be sophisticated enough to see
that, in the words of
Francisco VanderHoff-Boersma - a coffee producer from Mexico in an
IFAT keynote speech “all fair trade initiatives are good, none is the
best or the only road for global changes”.
I have quoted this before, it is vital.
WONDERWORLD and it’s producer partners are very small and rather overworked organisations. We are exploring using Fairtrade cotton in our confections but it is quite unlikely that we will apply for the Fairtrade brand mark in the near future, or become registered FLO importers, etc. We try to keep up with developing standards in this area, whether Fairtrade, ISO 9000 or anything else, they will always inform what we do in relation to the ideals of fair trade, Fairtrade or ethical trade. We will tell you what we do in relation to everything we see happening in these fields. It will be up to you to decide how close, or otherwise, we are to what you think fair trade, Fairtrade or ethical trade should be about. Should fair trade equal Fairtrade, is there overlap between fair trade and ethical trade or a very clear difference. Interesting questions I hope you actively consider. KERALA HOMESTAYTHE
south Indian state of Kerala is a highly recommended destination for
culturally minded holidaymakers, jungle hikers, wild life enthusiasts,
beach bums and curry lovers.
Religiously and ethnically diverse yet integrated, politically
radical, highly educated but economically backward for those not
benefiting from the remittance economy. SINCE
living in Kerala for three years in the early 80s, working for two social
justice & economic development related NGOs, I have been back many
times and seen the tourist industry transform some places.
Yet just a few miles away from those now unrecognisable honeypots I
have visited communities completely unaffected.
For all the mixed blessings that tourism brings, life for the rural
poor in Kerala is tough. Ways
should be found to integrate more people into the benefits.
TO
this end WONDERWORLD is supporting a ‘homestay’ programme by Elsamma
Valayil, a friend from my Kerala NGO days.
Her NGO is now defunct and Elsamma was recently widowed so income
generation is necessary. She
has a small but pleasant
house, in a quiet, attractive location with privacy about 20 miles north
of Kottayam in central Kerala. ‘Homestay’
is very widespread in Kerala, there are many fabulous, historic properties
where guests could stay on a bed and board basis.
Of course these grand houses tend to be in the hands of the upper
echelons where as Elsamma belongs to the lowest social strata known as the
‘dalith’ community. Staying
with Elsamma would enable guests to have contact in circles
that other travellers find hard to access.
At the same time her place is near enough main routes to famous
traveller objectives like Cochin, the high range tiger sanctuaries, the
backwaters and the Arabian Sea beaches. DETAILS
of Elsamma’s homestay are on the WONDERWORLD website at http://www.wonderworld.co.uk/Elsamma/KeralaHome.htm
or follow the link on the Links page.
If anyone could assist us by placing a link to this URL on their
website that would be very helpful. WHERE’S THE SOAPLAST
year we told you that we hoped to bring a cottage industry soap from a
‘dalith’ community producer group in Kerala.
While we have not given up on this project we are at the stage
where we are waiting for the producer to get organised and get on with it.
The framework for progress has been laid out and we will see if the
proposals that we discussed are in real life relevant enough for this new,
inexperienced group to invest their sweat equity to make something happen.
LAVENDERWE
tried making Lavender Fragrant Garden incense imported French Mont Blanc
lavender oil.
Unfortunately it was too expensive.
We hope to find a suitable source of natural lavender in India at
which point it will be in the FG range quick as a flash.
|
Hmm, where shall we put it?