GOOD BUSINESS NEWSLETTER SEPTEMBER 2007

FRAGRANT GARDEN PRODUCER JOINS IFAT 

IN FEBRUARY this year we were delighted to learn that Cottage Industries, producer of our Fragrant Garden Natural Incense in Pondicherry, India had been accepted for membership of IFAT – the International Fair Trade Association.

AS far as we are aware Cottage Industries is the first aromatic producer to get membership of IFAT, a global organisation that represents & regulates fair trade. WONDERWORLD encouraged & supported Cottage to make their application so that the areas they perform well at in terms of fair trade values could be recognised and to challenge them to make progress in other areas.

WE believe Cottage Industries are a good business with strong values at work but we don’t regard them as the finished article in terms of fair trade ideals.  We would be surprised if any organisation claimed to be so.   Cottage Industries has a credible record in providing highly beneficial employment to women artisan incense makers in Pondicherry, good rates of remuneration, benefits and an excellent working environment.  I  think they can develop better consultative processes with staff so that fair trade criteria around the theme of empowerment could be better fulfilled.

WHEN we discussed the fair trade scene and the application to IFAT with Cottage Indistries management we all recognised that they had areas of strength and weakness in relation to the full panoply of fair trade criteria.  For example we knew that Cottage does not  exist to be a fair trade organisation because it was founded as a charitable trust to provide support & artefacts for members & activities of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram in Pondicherry.  That was fifty years ago, long before the fair trade movement arose and support for the Ashram remains Cottage Industries first purpose today. We agreed that we would be very clear about this and quite prepared for the application to fail on that basis.  We said there was substantial overlap between the values of the Ashram & Cottage Industries on the one side and the values of the fair trade movement on the other, but not complete congruity.

NOW we will work to support Cottage in their adherence to the IFAT Code of Conduct and their overall development of fair trade practises. We think that both organisations have a big contribution to make to each other and wish them well on their journey together.

MEANWHILE Fragrant Garden Natural Incense sellers please note - we have prepared a modest point of sale sign stating that Fragrant Garden Natural Incense is produced by Cottage Industries, a member of IFAT, the International Fair Trade Association.  Contact us for a hard copy or down load from here.

TWIST & SHOUT

OUR lovely Himalayan rope incense brand Fragrant Mountain is building in customer recognition.  Now it has an alternative aroma to complement the original sweet smell, something a little tangier and with a purifying note.   Also we can provide refill packs so that customers can refill their boxes.  The display box sets are still available and retailers will be supplied with small packs of samples to burn for customers.   Rope incense is such good stuff we are determined to popularise it.  

MATRIX UPLOADED

AS DISCUSSED in our last newsletter WONDERWORLD has adopted a new system for offering customers information about our products' varied relationships with fair trade & ethical trade values.   This comes in the form of an .xls spreadsheet called the Fair Trade/Ethical Trade Matrix.

THE MATRIX cross references each WONDERWORLD product code with an extensive list of fair trade & ethical trade criteria that we have tried to distil from the rhetoric & practise of all the fair trade and ethical trade organisations we have encountered.  Customers can see specifically which criteria we think are, or are not fulfilled.  This enables all customers to think through the issues and implement their own vision for fair trade & ethical trade. 

THE Matrix is on-line and accessible via the Stock List link on our website menu.  It is not password protected as we want people to have a look.   The Matrix  replaces our earlier Prospects guide.  It will require refining and anyone using it is invited to comment.   For those without access the internet we can print out a copy of the current version and post it.

OUR vision for fair trade involves everyone in the supply chain working harder to put fair trade ideals into practise.  That means producers, importers & retailers.  The criteria list we have produced can be seen as possible action points for everyone to make progress toward fair trade ideals.

LEEDS FAIR TRADE FAYRE

EVERY year we have attended various indoor fair trade events in the run up to Christmas.  This year we are organising one ourselves in co-operation with Beth Arnold at Radish, fine bookshop & fair trade shop in the Leeds property hotspot of Chapel Allerton. 

OUR event will take place at St Chad’s Church Hall, Headingley on November 24^th 2007.  Details on a web-page reached via the WONDERWORLD website menu.  We have listed similar events taking place in the North of England (which I will define as anywhere north of Ashby de la Zouch).  Our page has been Googled so if you have an event you would like mentioning please let us know and reciprocate on any websites or publicity you may be doing.

STAR of the Leeds Fair Trade Fayre and focus of our vibrant, hi-energy promotional work will be Britain’s first Fairtrade Santa Claus.  The Fairtrade Santa has a beard made from Fairtrade seed cotton obtained direct from Agrocel in India.  We tried to get hold of 3 sq metres of Fairtrade cloth to make the Santa coat & trousers but had no luck.   So fair trade cloth, in fact our block print fabrics as approved by the Dutch World Shop Association a couple of years back and now re-dyed will have to suffice!  As the Fairtrade Santa will be meeting groups of adult activists the difference between the Fairtrade Santa beard and the fair trade Santa suit will provide us with a good talking point.  Ho Ho Ho!

BAFTS STRATEGIC PLAN

THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION OF FAIR TRADE SHOPS has a key role in the UK fair trade scene.  While the Fairtrade Foundation has made great strides in providing an operational fair trade system around the Fairtrade brand mark for agricultural commodities, it is only BAFTS nationally that offers a working definition for fair trade in the field of handicrafts/artisanship.  There is a view in circulation that BAFTS has to make their fair trade vetting process considerably more demanding.   WONDERWORLD agrees.

HOW can that happen?   Reading into material released by BAFTS in the last year, a direction of travel may be indicated, toward a concept of fair trade founded on adherence to historic core values in which ‘fair trade’ and ‘ethical trade’ are clearly distinct.  You could summarise the distinction by saying that ‘fair trade’ has a strong focus on marginalized sectors, on pro-poverty/developmental organisations  like NGOs, charities and social enterprises & on democratic, producer controlled organisations like co-operatives, all with poverty reduction as the prime aim.  On the other hand ‘ethical trade’ could be explained as privately owned, conventionally structured and motivated businesses that may implement various beneficial values but only alongside financial goals.  Typically values like fair wages, good working conditions & balanced, long term relationships would be their keynotes.

WE think a strategy of maintaining a clear difference between ‘fair trade’ and ‘ethical trade’ has significant problems & we think there are better options on offer.  We think it is possible to recognise & robustly manage the very large areas of overlap between ‘fair trade’ developmental goals and the activity of small to medium sized enterprises, particularly working in the field of artisanship.  These better options would make it easier for BAFTS members’ businesses to succeed, in fact build a stronger network for marginalised producers, make fair trade a serious model for the conduct of trade generally and thus help it achieve true world changing scale sooner.   We think fair trade must turn toward regular trade, prepared to engage with it - on well defined terms.

OUR arguments in support of better options are laid out in more detail on our website Fair Trade Blog page so we wont detain you with the details here.   However we do urge BAFTS members to take notice that a process is underway which might significantly affect the choices they are able to make as they fight for their commercial survival in challenging times.   BAFTS members must own their vision for fair trade, they must empower themselves in thinking the vision through and then implementing it.  We want to see  options clearly laid out and BAFTS members making a fully debated, conscious, collective choice.   If the adoption of a new BAFTS strategic plan proves to be a top-down process where members are passively led by the hierarchy then the goal of strengthening BAFTS, on any terms, will not be achieved. 

WEBSITE UPGRADE

THE SHAME of owning the last ever ‘frames’ website on the whole internet finally took it’s toll.  Over the summer we restructured this website with ‘tables’.  This victory came not without at little dust.  Have a look and let us know if you come across any glitches because we can only see this site with our own screens and browsers. Especially we want to know if the home page fits in your screen. We are now only one generation behind the game in website terms.  I am hearing about these things called ‘style sheets’.  Give me a break, I have a headache.

SPORT: HIGHLAND LEAGUE RESULT  2007

LITTLE BEASTIES of LAMLASH  0
LEMON GRASS & NEEM UNITED 3  

SLIMMED down (ie 20 sticks to a packet) Fragrant Garden insect repelling incense sticks performed well against massed  midges in woody groves on the east coast of Arran this summer.  Quite noticeable how the wimps failed to muster a team in the windswept, west facing dunes of Machrihanish, Kintyre.