Bulletin
TRAIDCRAFT WEEK COMPETITION WINNERS
T H E FA I R T R A D E P R E M I U M Y E A R LY REPORT 2020
P L A Y I N G FA I R WITH BALA SPORTS
T R A I D C R A F T S H O P. C O . U K
J U LY 2021
IN THIS ISSUE... 2-4 INTRO PAGES 5
T RAIDCRAFT WEEK COMPETITION WINNERS
6
T RAIDCRAFT WEBSITE UPDATE
7 T RAIDCRAFT AND THE FAIRTRADE PREMIUM YEARLY REPORT 2020 8-9 P LAYING FAIR WITH BALA SPORT 10 PRODUCT UPDATE 11 E XCLUSIVE SUMMER CATALOGUE OFFERS - ENDING SOON!
BUGINGHAM PALACE COMPLETE WITH FREE WI-FLY! Traidcraft’s Bulletin Editor, Sarah, spotted this on a walk around her local area. Complete with free wi-fly and a rooftop garden, Bugingham Palace is clearly the place to be this summer. We love this idea! If you haven’t seen our how to guide on attracting pollinators to your gardens and making your own bee hotel, check out page 84 - 85 of our summer catalogue!
12-14 T RAIDCRAFT EXCHANGE UPDATE 15
E ASY FAIR TRADE BISCUITS RECIPE
CAFÉDIRECT RESILIENCE RIDE 30 TH ANNIVERSARY TOUR As part of their 30th birthday celebrations, Cafédirect’s Head of Finance, James Nixon, is cycling from London to Edinburgh, to raise funds for their charity, Producers Direct. Producers Direct improves the livelihoods of smallholder farmers; each year, Cafédirect’s profits are shared with these farmers. Here, you can see James having a pit stop with Matt at our Gateshead HQ!
DIVINE COMPETITION WINNER Well done to Wendy Williams who won last month’s Divine chocolate giveaway and decided to share her prize with her husband - enjoy! 2
traidcraftshop.co.uk
FIND OUT MORE FOLLOW JAMES ON STRAVA
Friends, Summer is here and to celebrate we have created a set of resources to get us used to being able to socialise and to trade again. ‘Traidcraft Al Fresco’ has downloadable resources to make your covid19-compliant summer activities really zing.
TRAIDCRAFT: FIGHTING FOR JUSTICE RIGHT HERE IN THE UK Occasionally, we have products which come into short shelf-life issues. They’re still perfectly good to eat and drink, but they are technically reaching the end of their sellable shelf-life. Rather than sell them on to a wholesaler at discount, we often decide to donate to local causes, helping to fight injustices we see here in our community.
Also we are proud to say we are expanding. At the end of June, we became the proud new custodians of Bala Sports. We are really excited about this next development and you can read all about it on page 8. Please save the dates (August 20th and 21st) for an end of summer party for Fair Traders and Retailers. I intend to invite you to have an indoor/ outdoor BBQ with me; we will catch up with the latest from PLC and TX and give you the chance to catch up with other Fairtraders across the country. Finally a comment on the out of stocks and delayed shipments: Thank you for your patience. Many of our producers are really struggling due to the global shortage of storage containers. Containers that were costing $1,200 three months ago are currently costing between $8,000 and $10,000. This is having a dramatic effect on availability and pricing.
Here, you can see Traidcraft’s Alex and Michael, helping to pack up some Traidcraft cookies which were nearing their sell by date, and some Traidcraft rice, which had a small tear in the packaging and was therefore unsellable. We donated these goodies to Gateshead Food Bank. Gateshead Food Bank is part of a nationwide network of foodbanks, supported by The Trussell Trust, working to combat poverty and hunger across the UK.
We are working hard with all our friends across the world to minimise the disruption to production and cost Happy fair trading, Matt
To find out more about this local food bank and read some of the stories of the lives it has touched, see here: gateshead.foodbank.org.uk traidcraftshop.co.uk
3
WORLD’S SMALLEST FAIR TRADE SHOP?! Thanks to Jonathan Bailey for getting in touch and sending us some pictures of St Andrew’s Leytonstone fair trade shop. It may be small but looks very compact and full of delicious ethical goodies. Thanks Jonathan, keep up the great work! Dear Traidcraft The vicar has just rearranged a few pews to make a café area at St Andrew’s Leytonstone, and I’ve installed what I think may be the world’s smallest Fairtrade shop!? Anything to increase sales! I thought you might like to see these photos. Best wishes
Jonathan GOODBYE FOR NOW!
With baby Allen due early August, I’m off on maternity leave for a year on 2nd July. I’ll be leaving my Retailer related sales role in the capable hands of Matt Oliver, but obviously our wonderful Sales Support Team will continue to be on hand and remain your first point of contact for all order enquiries. Happy fair trading,
Jude 4
traidcraftshop.co.uk
BULLETIN THROWBACK Thank you to Judy Bradley who shared this picture of a Bulletin from February 1995. Who remembers this style of Bulletin?
CONGRATULATIONS… TO OUR TRAIDCRAFT WEEK COMPETITION WINNERS We hope that you all had a wonderful Traidcraft Week and are currently enjoying a summer-long celebration of all things Traidcraft and the great outdoors (in line with government guidelines, of course!). Thank you for all of your beautiful photographs of outdoor spaces, for our Traidcraft Week competition. Below are some of our favourites, as well as our winner and runner up!
1 ST PRIZE
RUNNER UP
£50 Gift Voucher
Afternoon Tea Hamper
Myra
Gillian
David Roberts
Hope Whittaker
Fairbridge Trust
Karen Lindsey traidcraftshop.co.uk
5
TRAIDCRAFT WEBSITE UPDATE If you’ve ever searched for something Traidcraft related on a search engine, and stumbled across some rather outdated information or resources, the chances are you’ve landed on a traidcraft.co.uk page. This is frustrating for you, as well as us, as we want you to get the most up to date information about all things Traidcraft right away. Which leads us nicely on to some fantastic news… as of this month, this will happen no longer, as we are retiring the outdated traidcraft.co.uk website. The process involved a lot of hard work from the team here at Traidcraft; looking into the old pages which are still used by visitors, updating/rewriting the pages and migrating this content onto the traidcraftshop.co.uk site. All of these pages are now live, so if you’d like a sneak preview, see below.
WHAT WE DO, WHY AND HOW WE'RE DIFFERENT
ABOUT US PAGE
6
traidcraftshop.co.uk
MEET THE TEAM PAGE
ENVIRONMENTAL PAGE
TRAIDCRAFT AND THE FAIRTRADE PREMIUM
YEARLY REPORT 2020
OUR STATS ARE IN… In 2020, by purchasing your Fairtrade goods from us, YOU helped to generate £23,900 in Fairtrade Premium; helping producers to fight for a fair deal in their communities.
PREMIUM GENERATED: OUR PRODUCT BREAKDOWN
£10,200 + £9,100 + £2,200 + £2,400 = TEA COFFEE COCOA OTHER
PREMIUM GENERATED
£23,900 GRAND TOTAL
FAIRTRADE TEA: PREMIUM USE IN A NUTSHELL As you can see, the majority of Premium generated came from our wonderful, bestselling range of tea. To dig a little deeper, here is where the Premium was invested from sales of Fairtrade tea. Read more about the difference the Premium made in 2020.
136 THOUSAND HECTARES UNDER CULTIVATION
£4.1 MILLION IN FAIRTRADE PREMIUM EARNED BY TEA PRODUCERS
9,837 METRIC TONNES OF FAIRTRADE TEA SOLD
390 THOUSAND FARMERS AND WORKERS IN 100 PRODUCER ORGANISATIONS
READ FULL IMPACT REPORT
“Farmers can use their Premium funds to become more resilient to climate change, to educate their children and to improve their communities.” Fairtrade Foundation
SHOP TRAIDCRAFT TEA traidcraftshop.co.uk
7
PLAYING FAIR WITH BALA SPORT A new venture for Traidcraft and a significant step on the journey to creating the House of Fair It is with the greatest pleasure that we share our exciting news with you… As of last month, Traidcraft became the proud custodians of Bala Sport; an inspirational business set up to expand the availability and use of ethically produced, Fairtrade-certified sports balls (focusing initially on footballs and rugby balls) in the UK and beyond.
8
traidcraftshop.co.uk
Since launching in 2014, one of the key roles of the Bala Sport co-operative was to raise awareness of the issues around Fairtrade sports balls, and show how a Fairtrade supply chain can help make a difference to the lives of some of the estimated 40,000 sports balls workers in Sialkot, Pakistan (where around 70% of the world’s hand-stitched balls are made), as well as in other surrounding countries.
The Fairtrade Premium was used to help fund projects like free eye care and subsidised glasses, free diabetes checks, free school books and backpacks for workers’ children and free transport to work. The Premium also part funded larger scale projects such as water purification plants located just outside the factory gates, so that anyone in the community can take advantage of free, safe drinking water. The team at Bala Sport developed this pioneering brand from scratch, and have already made huge strides in bringing the Fairtrade message to the sporting world. Without the on-going support of its investors, supporters and cooperative members, Bala Sport wouldn’t be in such a strong position as it is in today, empowering sports ball makers in India and Pakistan, so we couldn’t possibly go any further without extending our gratitude to them.
“We’ve worked extremely hard to get the Fairtrade message into the sporting world. We are thrilled to pass on our brand to Traidcraft; it feels right that the pioneers of the fair trade movement in the UK should be at the forefront of moving it forwards.” Annie Howie, Former Bala Sport MD
“This is a huge moment for Traidcraft. We are delighted to be given the opportunity to continue Bala Sport’s mission to challenge injustice in the sporting world, and to develop on the fantastic work that’s already been done. We see this as an important step in our journey to creating the ‘House of Fair’; a coalition of fair trade businesses, brands and consumers who are committed to buying right.” Matt Oliver Traidcraft
Bala Sport has done so much of the ground work, and has lots to celebrate, so it is with excitement and anticipation that we head into a future with them. We hope that we can build on their already rich heritage, and continue to grow and develop Bala Sport even further in the coming years, encouraging customers up and down the UK to #PlayFair with Bala Sport. If you’d like to find out more about this exciting development, or would like to pre-order your very own Bala Sport ball, contact info@balasport.co.uk traidcraftshop.co.uk
9
Product Update from Kirsty & Lizy THE LONG AND SHORT OF IT
For many years, we have struggled to keep our Traidcraft Shortbread Fingers going, often running into short shelf-life issues with them, making them potentially not viable for us.
However, we still have packaging and know they are a delicious, extremely moreish product, so do want to try to keep them going. Our manufacturer who makes them, just down the road from us at Gateshead HQ, have been upgrading their bakery production lines. With the upgrade comes new machinery; there was the hope with different machine parts the shortbreads would be able to continue, however these parts were astronomical amounts of money and for one product (they only make shortbread fingers for Traidcraft) it just sadly was not commercially viable.
oops! It has come to our attention that the sari baskets we have in stock are a slightly different size to what we have listed within our summer catalogue. Sorry about this. Here are the correct measurements: Large W35 cm x L50 cm x D18 cm Medium W31 cm x L45 cm x D15 cm Small W 24 cm x L38 cm x D12 cm
We had hoped to bring the fingers back over the summer, but now sadly not. We still have some delicious shortbreads in the range (admittedly not coated in chocolate!) but still delicious. Traidcraft Chocolate Chunk & Sour Cherry Shortbread Rounds 43922 (160g) £3.95 | 24008 (8 x 160g) £28.40 Traidcraft Double Chocolate Chunk & Raspberry Shortbread Rounds 31038 (160g) £3.95 | 43704 (8 x 160g) £28.40
We are currently out of stock of our Gardening Gloves. While another production run is being finalised, we can offer our Outdoor Gloves as an alternative. These unisex gloves have a soft cotton lining, are hard-wearing and waterproof.
10 traidcraftshop.co.uk
OFF
WHILE STOCKS LAST!
FINGER ON THE PULSE
SHOP BISCUITS
Traidcraft Outdoor Gloves Medium 61428 £4.50
10%
SHOP NOW
You may be aware that our pulses have not yet been in stock, due to supplier problems surrounding Brexit/Covid. The good news is that they are here! Plus, until Sunday 11th July, they'll have 10% off! SHOP NOW
Offers End 20th July inclusive.
SUMMER ‘21 CATALOGUE OFFERS
ENDING SOON!
We just wanted to remind you that our catalogue offers are ending 20th July inclusive, so if you want to get your hands on them at a discounted price, make sure to pop them in your basket and check out before then.
20% OFF
Singles: (Min order 4 x 35g) £4.40 £3.52 Cases: £29.70 £23.76 Divine Milk Chocolate 32936 (4 x 35g) 24750 (30 x 35g) Divine 70% Dark Chocolate 51552 (4 x 35g) 47224 (30 x 35g) Divine White Chocolate 50050 (4 x 35g) 44258 (30 x 35g) Divine Cappuccino Chocolate 69278 (4 x 35g) 69020 (30 x 35g) Divine Orange Milk Chocolate 58504 (4 x 35g) 58148 (30 x 35g) Divine Caramel Dark Chocolate 66616 (4 x 35g) 58662 (30 x 35g) The Jelly Bean Factory 36 Gourmet Flavour Mix (Min order two). 68614 (2 x 75g) £2.70 £2.16 68630 (16 x 75g) £19.20 £15.36
20% OFF
The Jelly Bean Factory Fruit Cocktail Flavour (Min order two). 63902 (2 x 75g) £2.70 £2.16 27614 (16 x 75g) £19.20 £15.36
SHOP ALL OFFERS
traidcraftshop.co.uk
11
Take action: A Fashion Watchdog to clean up the fashion industry When we go to buy clothes, we'd all like to know that people didn't suffer to make the clothes on sale. Unfortunately, too many clothing retailers are cutting corners to squeeze out profits, at the expense of the people who make our clothes. Retailers regularly make excessive demands on the factories that supply them. Changing designs at the last minute, demanding faster delivery or reductions on previously-agreed prices, and refusing to pay for orders are just some of the ways that fashion retailers exert pressure on factories and the people who work there. To put it bluntly, the way retailers buy in clothes causes job losses, poverty wages, excessive overtime, and unsafe conditions for the people who make our clothes. It’s been like this for years. Coronavirus made a bad situation worse. Millions of garment workers were laid off last year. Some were forced to work to meet production targets despite being sick. 12 traidcraftshop.co.uk
A new crisis seems to hit the garment industry every few years. An unsafe factory collapses, or fashion brands refuse to pay suppliers for orders they agreed to – it's clear we need to break out of this cycle. We need long-term change. Otherwise, we'll be back here soon, campaigning for another vital short-term fix to another horrendous situation in the garment industry. There is some good news. The UK government is looking at a plan for a new Fashion Watchdog that would make sure retailers buy in clothes and treat their suppliers properly. But the government is still undecided on the Fashion Watchdog. If we want to change the fashion industry for good we need to make our voice heard now. Unless fashion retailers change the way they do business, we’ll never see an end to poverty wages and unsafe conditions for the people working in garment factories. We need a Fashion Watchdog to make sure retailers do change how they do business and start buying in garments properly and fairly from suppliers around the world. Join the campaign for a new Fashion Watchdog. Find out more and take action at traidcraftexchange.org/fashion-watchdog
43,350 THANK
YOU
people will benefit from natural resource management and climate change adaptation - including 632 acres of tree planting!
2,000
smallholder farmers and entrepreneurs will participate in biodiversity activities such as beekeeping, fruit trees and fishing.
How the Regenerators Appeal will help deliver real change We have been overwhelmed by the support the Regenerators Appeal has received over the last few months. Your donations will support the Regenerators in vulnerable communities in Tanzania, Kenya, Senegal and Bangladesh to fight back against the devastating impact of climate change. The UK government’s matched funding will fund a new project working with Regenerators in Tanzania. Now that the appeal has closed, we can reveal some more about how your money will help the Regenerators in Tanzania. Working with our partners at Tanzania Gender and Sustainable Energy Network (TANGSEN), these are the big numbers of our project:
2,000
smallholder farmers will get access to new climate-resilient technology.
This is just one part of the change that your support will create – and these aren't just statistics… these are people’s lives. The changes that you’ve invested in are long term. Thanks to your help, these farmers and entrepreneurs can fight back and protect the earth for generations to come - and earn more for the hard work they do every day. It’s all thanks to the wonderful support you’ve given to the Regenerators Appeal. And we can’t wait to tell you more about this work as it develops. We can't thank you enough. traidcraftshop.co.uk
13
Cars and cartridges can make a difference
Pictured left to right: Heather Thompson of Traidcraft Exchange, Robin Roth and Jo Forster of Traidcraft PLC, Liz Twist MP for Blaydon.
Blaydon MP wins the race! A huge shout-out to Liz Twist, MP for Blaydon, for hosting and generously supporting a Big Brew coffee morning on Saturday 22 May, in aid of our Regenerators Appeal.
You can recycle your old ink cartridges through our partner, the Recycling Factory. Simply click on the link below and follow the directions provided - it's quick and easy, and great for the planet and Traidcraft Exchange! The recycling scheme is completely free of charge and 100% of the value of all inkjet cartridges successfully recycled will be donated to Traidcraft Exchange. therecyclingfactory.com/ traidcraft-exchange
While serving Fairtrade tea and coffee from our colleagues over at Traidcraft plc, Liz, her colleagues and friends put on a lovely spread – including a particularly delicious rhubarb crumble! Robin Roth, CEO of Traidcraft plc and Heather Thompson of Traidcraft Exchange talked about the origins and evolution of both organisations in the North East and the different ways they tackle extreme poverty. Limitations on numbers due to Covid restrictions did nothing to dampen the spirits of the small but lively crowd in attendance, or to curb their generosity. Funds were raised through donations and a raffle, and the craic was so good we didn’t even get round to our planned quiz. Thanks to the generosity of Liz and all who attended, a whopping £500 was raised, which will be matched by the UK government, bringing the total to £1000! Altogether a successful and enjoyable event, and a real respite from the lonely days of lockdown.
If you have a car, motorbike or other vehicle that you would like to dispose of, Giveacar will arrange collection of the item at no cost to you. They provide a FREE service which is available throughout the UK. Depending on the age and condition of the vehicle, Giveacar will either recycle it at a green facility, or send it to a salvage auction.
Thanks to all involved. 14 traidcraftshop.co.uk
COMPLETE AN ORDER FORM
DOWNLOAD PRINT-FRIENDLY VERSION
HOW TO MAKE To make the Chickpea Flour: (Please note: this step requires a food processor): • B litz the dried chickpeas for about 3 to 4 minutes in a food processor, as the time passes you will see what resembles a fine, creamy powder. • S ift the mixture reserve the fine flour and reblitz the rest, if you only have a bit of the grain left, use a coffee grinder and this will allow the last small grains to be milled to the fine flour. To make the brownie: • P re heat oven 160c (140c for fan assisted ovens)
FAIRTRADE CHICKPEA BROWNIE
Recipe To celebrate the launch of the highly-coveted Fairtrade and Organic chickpeas within our pulses range, our friends at Just Trading Scotland have supplied us with this delicious chickpea brownie recipe. Enjoy WHAT YOU’LL NEED 150g dark chocolate 150g butter
120g Fairtrade and Organic chickpeas 4 tablespoons cocoa
brown sugar
150g white chocolate chips or chopped white chocolate
3 eggs, locally
150g fresh raspberries
sourced if possible
Pinch of salt
150g soft dark
Get to know us better...
• G rease and line a deep 7" cake tin. If you don't have a square tin, a round one will do the job. • M elt the chocolate and butter in a bowl over simmering water, or on defrost in the microwave (short 2-minute bursts in the microwave is best, stir and return, stir and return) • W hisk the eggs, brown sugar and salt until thick and creamy. This could take about 3 to 4 minutes. Weigh out the chickpea flour and the cocoa. • W hen the eggs are creamy add in the cooled melted chocolate and butter and stir well. • A dd in the cocoa and flour and mix well together fold in the raspberries and white chocolate. • P our the mixture into the prepared tin. It will come right up to the top, but don’t worry, the mixture will not rise. • B ake for no more than 20 minutes otherwise the centre will bake, and you won’t have that mouth-watering gooey centre. traidcraftshop.co.uk
15
