Welcome to the second edition of our new-look Shared Interest customer newsletter. In this edition you will find information about our “Access to Finance” training, updates on how to get the most out of your facility and examples of the industry challenges faced by fair trade businesses today and the importance to provide information to your Account Manager/Customer Representative. We are also aiming to add more stories of customers so please tell us about the exciting activities you are planning. If sending an email seems too formal then we are all on Skype and happy to have a chat. For more information on our products please visit our website www.shared-interest.com I hope you enioy this issue.
Malcolm Curtis, Customer Services Manager
BIOFACH 11-13 February 2015, Nuremburg, Germany AFCA 12-14 February 2015, Nairobi, Kenya
We will be attending the following events: CSAF (Council on Smallholder Agricultural Finance) 6/7 November 2014, Brussels, Belgium To find out more email us at france.villeneuve@shared-interest.com Customer COOCAFE with our anniversary flag in Costa Rica Follow the progress of the flags on our website and on Twitter @SharedInterest #followourflags #25years
We have almost 9,000 UK members… who invest over £31m DID YOU KNOW…
Brissy Caceres Lima, Peru
Christiana Asanate Accra, Ghana
It is important to communicate to your Account Manager/ Customer Representative as soon as possible of any delays on your deliveries in order to avoid your account going into arrears. Shared Interest understands that this can happen for several reasons and it is helpful for both parties if we know this information in advance.
We lend over £46m annually…
across 62 countries
Please note that although our interest fees might be higher than other lenders, we do not deduct commission fees on the funds provided. We only charge fee to new facilities and only on one occasion.
Organisation: Apicoop, Chile Name: Juan Eduardo Henriquez (Chino) 34 years ago Apicoop started out as church-led community project - now they are the main supplier of Fairtrade honey in the world. They have been a customer of Shared Interest since 1997.
It was a statement we wanted to make. It’s what fits with what we believe in.
We caught up with General Manager Chino when he visited the Shared Interest office in Newcastle in August to talk about how Shared Interest has helped their business flourish. Q: When and how did you first hear of Shared Interest Society? Shared Interest were actually one of the first businesses to lend to Apicoop to upgrade facilities for honey processing.
Q: What have you used your facilities for? Loans in 2007 and 2008 were provided to fund a blueberry project to allow Apicoop to diversify their products and generate additional income. We have also used a loan to invest in machinery to package blueberries. Q: What is your connection with fair trade? Fair trade was one of our stepping stones as we were beginning. Our blueberries are sold across the UK now. We chose to sell through the Coop supermarket because of the fair trade connections.
Q: Does environmental change impact on your work? The climate we cannot control. But our producers reach across 1200km. This means that whatever the weather, we are able to source produce from at least some of our members. Human beings are the greatest threat to bees. Pesticides are a huge problem. What does help is that we are coming to have a better understanding of the weather, or how wet and dry seasons are being affected. Knowing more clearly what to do and when is very important. Q: What has been the effect on people in your community? Our business is not really about honey or blueberries. It is about people. Education is the real outcome. Our producers are now sending their children to university. Their parents never had this opportunity, but to see engineers, doctors, and trained professionals emerging from their studies as a result of the income from honey and blueberries, is really the true meaning of success.
These ashes act like a sponge that absorbs minerals that with the proper treatment to host microorganisms can easily be applied to the soil to help the plants. AFAORCA aims to make these stoves for their coop members to use in their farms for the purpose of cooking without polluting, saving energy and using the ashes to provide nutrients that benefit the plants.
Farm Stove Workshop The idea of creating a handmade stove is to prevent pollution in the air. They had a workshop to teach their farmers with some visiting experts from Talamanca. The wood is introduced into the metal stove and the heat starts liberating gases, then little by little the last minerals of the wood sticks are transformed into ashes.
During the training programme, ECOOKIM focused on improving the way they manage their financial accounts and learnt about the type of information social lenders seek in considering them for low interest loans
Enterprise Cooperative Kimbre – otherwise known as ECOOKIM based in Côte d'Ivoire – is one of the latest beneficiaries of the Access to Finance scheme run by Shared Interest Foundation in conjunction with Fairtrade Africa and has recently become a customer of Shared Interest Society. Last month they celebrated their 10th anniversary with a ceremony which was attended by partners as well as other high profile guests including the Minister of Agriculture in Côte d'Ivoire, the Director of Coffee Cocoa Council and the Representative of the Minister of National Education and Technical Education.
Gaining Fairtrade certification in 2010, ECOOKIM has already improved the lives of people living in the local community as they use their Fairtrade premium to repair bridges, build boreholes, and support local schools.
Shared Interest Foundation have trained 111 businesses in Africa. 28 businesses have applied to the Society through the project, 16 have been awarded a loan, 12 more are still in progress. This has resulted in £1.968 of lending being awarded. The project has 6 months left to run. Before
After
Ecookim’s improvements made to a local school
This year the FAIRTRADE Mark is 20 years old; to celebrate this achievement the Fairtrade Foundation have been reflecting upon the past and looking forward to the future of Fairtrade. Campaigners have worked hard for over twenty years to bring Fairtrade values and products to the public, influencing business and government practice along the way.
The Fairtrade Foundation began celebrating this momentous occasion by holding regional supporter conferences across the UK.
The 20th anniversary of the FAIRTRADE Mark is a fantastic opportunity to continue to drive change and bring attention to the challenges faced by producers.
To date Shared Interest have been present at four conferences in Sunderland, Edinburgh, London and Luton, and provided literature at a further two events in Preston and Truro.
We believe that the support of Shared Interest will help to overcome this last key bottle neck in our business, to the benefit of the members of the farmer group and our company. Gourmet Gardens, Operations Manager Dr Clemens Fehr
With Shared Interest behind us, we have more courage to work harder and feel we can go far in our business. Namayiana, Project Manager, Catherine Mututua
New initiatives Working with businesses not yet fair trade certified to help them make the step up to the next level and access new markets
This year we have undertaken a full strategic review of Shared Interest Society, considering our organisational Proactively working with ‘like-minded’ organisations to goals, plus our mission and values. The world is changing support fair trade rapidly and in fundamental ways, presenting new challenges and opportunities for producer communities and Manage funds on behalf of these organisations to support investors. Shared Interest’s work. We need to respond and have looked at a whole range of ways we can develop our offer to be inspiring and relevant for current members as well as future generations of investors and borrowing customers.
Supporting customers to diversify in terms of markets and products We will keep you updated on our progress in future Shared Interest News
Shared Interest Society has representatives in the following regions: Accra, Ghana Lima, Peru Nairobi, Kenya Newcastle, UK San José, Costa Rica Email: sales@shared-interest.com Website: www.shared-interest.com Skype: see website for contact details @SharedInterest We would like to hear from you if you have a story you would like to share. Has your Shared Interest loan or credit facility transformed your business in a really unique way? Or maybe you can advise other businesses on how you faced a certain challenge and overcame it. Get in touch with us at sales@shared-interest.com if you would like your business story featured.