Traidcraft

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Traidcraft plc
Type	Public Limited Company
Founded	1979
Headquarters	Gateshead, Tyne & Wear
Key people	Paul Chandler (CEO)
Industry	Retail (Fair Trade)
Products	Grocery, fashion and accessories, paper, crafts
Revenue	£20 million GBP (2007)
Employees	140+
Website	www.traidcraft.co.uk

Traidcraft is a UK-based alternative trading organisation, established in 1979, dedicated to 'fighting poverty through trade'. The organisation has two components: a trading company called Traidcraft plc, which offers a range of fairly traded products in the United Kingdom; and a development charity (Traidcraft Exchange) that specialises in making trade work for the poor. Its sales are now worth £20 million per year.

Contents 1 History 2 Traidcraft structure 2.1 Traidcraft Foundation 2.2 Traidcraft plc 2.3 Traidcraft Exchange 3 What is fair trade? 4 Social accounts 5 Traidcraft Meet the People Tours 6 See the Flipside 7 Internet operations 8 Criticism 9 References 10 External links

[edit] History

Traidcraft was set up to 'establish a more equitable trading system that will express the principles of love and justice fundamental to the Christian faith' and has also been fighting poverty through trade since August 1979. Launched from the top floor of a 1920s warehouse (India House, Carliol Square) in the centre of Newcastle upon Tyne by Richard Adams with six members of staff, it has often taken the lead in new ideas on sustainable and fair trading. The first catalogue was hand-drawn featuring a small selection of jute products from Bangladesh but within two years tea, coffee and subsequently a wide range of foodstuffs were introduced.

In September 1983 the organisation moved into a 58,000 square foot warehouse on the Team Valley Trading Estate in Gateshead, Tyne & Wear. In 2004 it opened a second warehouse on the Team Valley, which houses the quality control, food packaging and logistics departments. Traidcraft also has a policy unit based in London, taking the staff total to over 140. The award-winning catalogue is in full colour featuring more than 500 products of food, clothes/accessories, paper and crafts. Traidcraft now works with more than 100 producer groups in over 30 countries around the world.

Traidcraft have two overseas offices in Nairobi, Kenya and Dhaka, Bangladesh which are part of the International Development Department, which is based in Gateshead.

[edit] Traidcraft structure

[edit] Traidcraft Foundation

The Traidcraft Foundation was set up to ensure that Traidcraft plc and Traidcraft Exchange remain focused on their principal aims of 'Fighting Poverty Through Trade'. It was also the Founder member of the Traidcraft Exchange charity and as such appoints all its directors.

The Traidcraft Foundation holds the Guardian share in Traidcraft plc. This gives the Foundation the power of veto over election of directors to the plc board, payments of dividends and to the Memorandum and Articles of Association. The Foundation must also be consulted on Traidcraft's major strategic plans and has a role of representing the views of external stakeholders in the social accounting process.

[edit] Traidcraft plc

Traidcraft plc is the trading arm of the organisation. The products are sourced from producers in over 30 developing countries including India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Indonesia, Philippines, Kenya, Malawi, Chile and Cuba .

Products include coffee, tea, fruit juice, sugar, wine, clothing, jewellery, paper and craft items. Among their food products is a snack bar called Geobar, Fairtrade chocolate, dried fruit, honey, pasta, rice and muesli. The latest product line consists of Fairtrade seeds from South Africa.

Traidcraft plc holds a 10% stake in Cafédirect which it set up jointly with Equal Exchange, Oxfam and Twin Trading.

Traidcraft is a founder member of the European Fair Trade Association (EFTA). EFTA is a network of 11 alternative trading organisations from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and Switzerland. Traidcraft helped establish the Fairtrade Foundation with CAFOD, Christian Aid, New Consumer, Oxfam and World Development Movement in 1992. It was also instrumental in the establishment of Newcastle based company Shared Interest in 1990. Shared Interest is a co-operative lending society that aims to reduce poverty in the world, by providing fair and just financial services.

Traidcraft plc has five principal aims:

• To tackle poverty by creating a market for the fair trade producers to supply
• To demonstrate to other organisations that it is possible to run a commercially viable company using fair trade principles
• To provide learning opportunities for Traidcraft as a whole, by giving greater substance and credibility to the advocacy and campaigning work.
• To educate consumers of the benefit of fair trade purchases so they will put pressure on other organisations and the government to adopt fairer trade rules.
• To provide the choice to consumers who are looking to make a moral decision on goods that they purchase.

[edit] Traidcraft Exchange

Traidcraft Exchange is the charitable arm of the Traidcraft organisation. Its first director was Graham Young. Registered charity number: 1048752.

Traidcraft Exchange promotes approaches to trade that work for the poor. They have three principal aims:

• Trade. To match up buyers in the EU with producers of fair trade products. To facilitate fairer terms of trade and market access for the producers in developing countries. This is done by the Market Access Centre which offers a range of services to any organisation that could benefit from them. The services are business development and capacity-building training, market information, product development, help with developing socially responsible trading practices and market linkages.
• Support. To help producers improve their skills and create networks to improve the supply of practical business services to producers. This is done by the International Development Department which co-ordinates Traidcraft plc, Market Access Centre and the Policy Unit's work to make markets work for the poor.
• Influence. To lobby and advise governments and organisations to facilitate improved trade rules and market access for small organisations in the developing world. This is done by the Policy Unit which influences trade and development polices within the UK Government, the European Union and the World Trade Organisation. The Policy Unit also works with other fair trade organisations to help support best practices and develop new policies within the fair trade movement in the UK, Europe and internationally.

The Traidcraft Exchange was awarded the 1999 Worldaware Award for Not-for-Profit Organisations in recognition of its positive work.^[1]

[edit] What is fair trade?

Fair trade differs from standard trade in five principal ways. Traidcraft is committed to fair trade so defines this as:

1. Traidcraft only works with poor and marginalised producers, working with them to develop their skills and create a sustainable livelihood via a trading relationship.
2. Traidcraft pay fair prices that will cover the full cost of raw materials, cost of production and enough to enable a living wage. Some producers also receive an additional premium they can use to buy machinery or for building projects.
3. Traidcraft pay for a percentage of the goods in advance so the producer can buy raw materials without having to lend money from local banks or loan sharks.
4. Traidcraft encourage all producers to treat staff fairly and with respect, working conditions should be safe in the workplace and throughout the supply chain.
5. Traidcraft look to work with producers long term, building working relationships, they would not work with them short-term, using them for commercial advantage.

Some Traidcraft producers are given additional benefits by packing the products at source, thus receiving income that may have gone to organisations in the United Kingdom. The fairly traded Mauritian sugars are packed on the island at Craft Aid, providing work for disabled people. Fruit Snacks from South Africa are packed locally providing valuable employment for the local workforce. Organic cotton from Agrocel in India is then shipped to Mauritius to be made into clothing items by the workers at Craft Aid, providing work for disabled people. Traidcraft's own brand coffee - the beans are from Fairtrade certified sources in Tanzania and then shipped to India to be processed.

[edit] Social accounts

Definition: Social accounting is a systematic means of accounting for the social impact of an organisation.

Traidcraft was the first public limited company in the United Kingdom to produce a set of social accounts and has been doing so every year since the early 1990's. The social accounts that are produced are a joint account of the impact both companies work has on various stakeholders. The social accounts are treated with the same seriousness as the financial accounts. They are also submitted to an external audit, and approval at the Annual General Meeting.

The social accounts are split into three main sections:

1. A report on the indicators by which Traidcraft measures progress on the delivery of its mission to fight poverty through trade.
2. A report on the dialogue that Traidcraft has had with its stakeholders including quotes direct from producers, customers, staff and the other stakeholders in both organisations.
3. A section setting out what Traidcraft means by its statement that Traidcraft is a Christian response to poverty.

Traidcraft has won awards for the social accounts it reports. In 2005 it was awarded the Social Enterprise Champion (Organisation) Award at the New Statesman Upstarts awards. In 2006 it received the Queen's Award for Enterprise: Sustainable Development. The Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) gives out the award annually for Corporate social responsibility:

• 2005 - Winner
• 2004 – Runner-up
• 2003 – Joint winner with Cooperative Insurance Society (CIS)
• 2002 – Joint runner-up with Cooperative Insurance Society (CIS)

[edit] Traidcraft Meet the People Tours

Traidcraft has been giving people the chance to visit fair trade producers for over 20 years and these visits have evolved into Meet the People Tours. The tours offer people who are interested in fair trade the chance to visit the people who benefit most from it. The tour includes visits to workshops, workers' homes as well as visiting sites of historic interest. Traidcraft Meet the People tours were highly commended in the Award for Best Tour Operator in 2005.^[2]

[edit] See the Flipside

Traidcraft launched its See the Flipside campaign at the Youthwork Conference in Southport in November 2006. The campaign is aimed at engaging young people in fair trade issues by highlighting the flipside of consumer choices and showing them how they can make a positive impact on individuals and communities in the developing world.

[edit] Internet operations

Traidcraft has two main websites: an information site on Traidcraft and fair trade, and a webstore for the sale of fair trade products. It also has a profile on MySpace and a campaigning website called "See the Flipside".

[edit] Criticism

Critics of fair trade argue that certification as a fair trade producer can be costly and bureaucratic.^[3]

See also: Fair trade debate

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Traidcraft website
• Traidcraft Webstore
• Traidcraft's Social Accounts Online
• Traidcraft MySpace
• See the Flipside website