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LiveLove York, April 2010
Well at Shared Earth in particular, it’s Earth Day, on 22 April. Earth Day is better known in the States than in the UK, but it’s a worldwide event and Shared Earth is using it as an opportunity to promote the environment.
Shared Earth (on the corner of Low Petergate and Minster Gates) has long promoted environmental causes as well as Fair Trade and is now the leading retailer of recycled products in the UK.
Products are made from all kinds of materials, from paper and glass to more exotic ones like computer circuit boards, coffee cups and crisp packets. Many are made in the UK, but Shared Earth’s suppliers in countries like India don’t just throw things away – they make lovely new products, for example, from loom waste, soapstone and broken bangles.
“Agricultural” waste is also used. Shared Earth sells beautilful cards made from weeds and dried flowers, boxes and gift wrap from pineapple leaves and sawdust, even notebooks and photo albums made from elephant dung!
Giftfocus - December
The UK is one of the world’s leading fair trade markets. No longer fringe products confined mainly to food, fair trade goods are becoming increasingly mainstream covering everything from jewellery to tableware and Christmas decorations. We showcase just some of the companies helping to tip the balance…
The high street has had to take note – the consumer wants choice and that includes fair trade goods.
Not just tokenism – they want quality, contemporary merchandise with reputable credentials that make a positive contribution towards helping to tackle poverty in developing countries.
Shopping with conscience is a force to be reckoned with in the modern marketplace and even in the recession the public has continued to buy fair trade goods.
The Fairtrade Foundation’s latest research shows continued consumer confidence and business support for Fair Trade in the UK.
Harriet Lamb, the foundation’s executive director said at its annual commercial conference recently: “Over the last 15 years we have seen fair trade spread through the business world, with pioneer dedicated companies first taking the lead, retailers taking up the baton and now major multinationals joining the race. More and more companies are now upping their game on fair trade.”
Worldwide sales of fair trade products grew by 22 per cent in 2008 as consumers spent an estimated 2.9 million Euro on fair trade products globally. In the UK sales of fair trade certified products increased by an impressive 43 per cent notching up record sales of over £700 million.
Harriet Lamb added: “We’re delighted that the growth of 43 per cent in fair trade sales keeps us on track with our plan to double the impact of fair trade by 2012. In the current global economic climate, farmers need fair trade more than ever. So it is profoundly reassuring to know that globally, consumers are still wholeheartedly backing a better deal for farmers and workers around the world.”
Leading UK pioneer Jeremy Piercy founded fair trade suppliers and retailers Shared Earth in 1986 when he opened his first shop in York. He is one of the early trailblazers who helped to get fair trade off the ground.
He comments: “Fair Trade sales have gone up by about 40% every year over the past 6 years in the UK. It is very much a growing trend, not a fashion that’s going to go away next year.”
He explained that with food products fair trade was easier to monitor with growing public awareness of the FAIRTRADE Mark, but with gifts it was harder, due to the nature of the market.
However, there are a number of recognized networks such as the British Association of Fair Trade Shops (BAFTS) and the International Fair Trade Association (IFAT) that operate monitoring systems.
You can find out more about these organizations at www.ifat.org and www.bafts.org.uk.
The process of agreeing international fair trade standards can’t take time, and for some products, particularly crafts and other items made by small-scale artisans, there may not yet be standards available to certify them. Some companies promote their own “fair trade” credentials without independent certification.
Jeremy advises: “You can tell a lot by just asking questions. People tend to be passionately committed to these values. Generally you can get a very good idea by talking to people whether they really mean it or they are just trying to make money.”
Over the years he has witnessed marked improvements in the range of fair trade products available, particularly in terms of style, quality and design.
He believes the recession may well have actually helped improve standards, due to increased competition.
“There’s lots more people wholesaling fair trade products now therefore more pressure to improve,” he added.
Jeremy has written a book called “Coffins, Cats and Fair Trade Sex Toys” published by Quick Brown Fox Publications, which offers a unique insight into the fair trade world.
Last month the Fairtrade Foundation celebrated the fifteenth anniversary of the first Fairtrade products with a party hosted by Sarah Brown at 10 Downing Street. At the same time the government announced a huge investment of £12 million for Fairtrade. This will benefit in particular food producers, whose products are identified by the Fairtrade mark, and the aim is to double the number of producers and treble Fairtrade sales worldwide to $10 billion Euros by 2014.
A TNS research of 25,000 households showed that despite the tough economic climate, consumers are spending more on Fairtrade products than ever before. Sales rose by 43% last year and are expected to rise at least as much again in 2009.
“Fair Trade is booming,” said Jeremy Piercy of Shared Earth, the UK’s largest Fair Trade gift retailer. “It’s not just food – retailers selling Fair Trade gifts are doing well too. At Shared Earth we started the year worried about the recession, but in the last two months we have opened two new shops in Brighton and Canterbury, and both are doing well. Fair trade is becoming part of the mainstream and retailers who don’t take notice will be missing out.”
In addition to its ten shops, Shared Earth wholesales Fair Trade products from 15 countries. It is particularly concerned about how climate change will increase world poverty, and specialises in developing products made from sustainable materials.
Insight Magazine, issue 63, November 2009
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When it comes to Christmas shopping - how many of us truly consider how the gift actually got to the shop? Where it came from and how it was sourced has risen in our awareness over the last decade, but what with the recent recession has Fair Trade been pushed to the back of our minds?
Recent figures documented by the Guardian suggest not and appear to ‘contradict previous surveys which have indicated that Brtitish consumers are turning their backs on organic, fair trade and eco-friendly goods in favour of cheaper shopping bills’. This is refreshing news and would suggest that many shoppers are seeking higher quality Fair Trade goods over cheaper, throwaway items. It hasn’t been easy though, when the recession initially hit many retailers suffered and the Fair Trade market was no exception.
However, Shared Earth are a prime example of a Fair Trade company that is recession proof, having been established since 1986 and still growing with 2009 seeing two more shops opening, proving that if the goods are a high quality and varied, consumers will still spend on good, built to last, from an ethical backgroumd. So, as you do your Christmas shopping this year, condiser the origin of the product you re buying to ensure your Christmas is an ethical one.
Buy ethically this Christmas with Shared Earth
When it comes to finding a gift, Insight understands that it’s not easy at the best of times to be trawling round shop after shop to find the ideal gift, let alone on that is produced in an ethical way. However, since discovering Shared Earth we feel we have found the solution to your whole Christmas shopping list - with them no one can argue that this hasn’t been achieved!
Today, there are ten highly successful shops and counting across the country, specialising in gifts for any occasion and taste with handmade cards from the Philippines, silver jewellery from Indonesia and hand-carved wooden boxes from India to name but a few. Importing unique jewellery, fashion accessories, homewares, stationery and children’s ranges, Shared Earth is the largest retailer and wholsaler of Fair Trade gifts in the UK.
Helpful gift ideas are individual and unique and really show thought and consideration unlike anything else they will get from another. From beautifully hand crafted embroidered frames for Mum to VW beetle cars models for Dad, and a whole host of gifts for children and friends. By buying from Shared Earth you can not only give lovely gifts, but also help to encourage economic progress and support sustainable industries.
With a strong focus on environmental issues the shop is also a fantastic arena for publicising them: “Addressing environmental issues is high on the agenda and the shop provides a perfect way of producing recycled goods and publicising them, and of course, we always aim to achieve the fairest working relationship with artisans from all over the world; from the start this as well as providing quality gifts has been a sole priority for us”. Jeremy told us.
So with shops in York, Birmingham, Leeds, Brighton, Manchester, Stratford-up-Avon, Liverpool, Cardiff, Bristol and Canterbury, plus the opportunity to shop online -What are you waiting for? Visit www.sharedearth.co.uk to shop online and find out more.
Coventry Observer, August 2009
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A city shop owner has teamed up with a leading retailer in Fair Trade products.
Pushy Sanghera opened her shop, Craft Culture, in the Lower Precinct last year, following the success of her weekly market stall.
The shop sells a whole host of Fair Trade products from handcrafted African, Egyptian and Thai Buddhas to handmade boxes and healing crystals.
But now, the mother of three, will be working in association with Shared Earth, the UK’s leading fair trade retailer, who provide a range of recycled and sustainable products made from everything from rice sacks and broken bangles to elephant dung.
Pushy has refurbished her shop, and stocked one half with a range of Shared Earth products, and the other with products she has sourced from families in Bali, Indonesia, Kenya and North Thailand.
She said she was excited to be given the opportunity to work in association with Shared Earth.
“All our products are reasonably priced as we have totally cut out the middle man, and go direct to these talented local people, who we believe get a decent wage through us buying direct from them,” she said.
“By buying from us, you are helping to provide much-needed jobs in countries like India, Vietnam, Kenya and Peru and many other countries, for people who are often on the margins of society with little or no other source of income,” she added.
Gifts Today, July 2009
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If you’ve been watching Mary Queen of Shops on BBC2, you’ll realise what a struggle it is for retailers in some small market towns – if you’re not struggling already yourself, that is.
Q. How do you cope as a retailer in a small town?
The effect of out-of-town shopping centres can be horrendous. Towns become “ghost” towns when footfall reduces to the extent that you just can’t keep doing. The advent of multiples attracts custom, but if independents can’t compete, and an important multiple like Woolworths closes, it can have a negative effect in the long run. In a recession, head offices don’t care about the local town, they care about their overall profits. A new out-of-town shopping centre is the worst threat of all.
There’s no easy answer. Action is needed at both local and central government levels; this is not just an economic issue. It’s a social issue about the type of country we want to live in. The greed of developers whose only concern is to make money should be curbed.
Mary’s suggestion – if things haven’t already gone too far – was to act together with other retailers. We need to think of creative ideas to market our towns and high streets, not just our individual shops. She took the example of Tewkesbury in Devon, and showed how much extra trade they could attract by working together.
The issue of saving costs was not really explored, an unexciting topic for TV, perhaps. Asking for help from landlords, Mary said, was almost pointless. But let’s be optimistic – if their properties are empty, they’re not making any money. In Bristol, where Shared Earth opened a shop in the Mall three years ago, sales plummeted by 25% last autumn when the Cabot Circus shopping centre opened nearby. Our landlord – ironically another shopping centre – has hinted that substantial help may be on its way.
Marketing is key, and I firmly believe that fair trade, preventing climate change and other ethical issues are ingredients in marketing today. Another small town in Devon recently became internationally famous. “On May 1st, 2007”, its website states, “every trader in Modbury joined together to make Modbury plastic bag free. The first town in the British Isles to do so” Its 40-odd shops have seen a definite increase in footfall.; the website goes on, “Please DO NOT telephone the shops directly, we have been inundated.” It’s worth a look. With reports on national TV and media, this was a marketing coup as good as getting Mary Portas involved.
A sustainable jute bag with the logo “I love Tewkesbury” – or any other town – would promote Tewkesbury and the environment. I have given our Bristol shop manager the task of approaching local shops to ask if they’d like their own, individually designed, jute bags – Shared Earth has a supplier in Kolkata which makes them fair trade as well as sustainable. Acting effectively as a wholesale agent, this will provide an extra income to a shop that is struggling.
Can you think of similar creative ideas that will either increase footfall or increase income whether footfall increases or not? Can you do something on the Internet? Can you work with one of your suppliers to promote their goods, locally or in neighbouring towns, to increase your income and maybe your margins by obtaining a better discount? Can you harness the public concern about climate change as you market your business? And can you work together with other retailers to increase your chances of success?
Finally, a challenge to this magazine. Can it act as a forum for ideas from retailers on the ground – what are we doing that works, that will save our towns and help us beat the recession?
Gifts Today, May/June 2009
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I recently attended a talk about how to publish a book, by Kate Lock, author of Confessions of an Eco-Shopper. This may seem irrelevant to the gift trade, but there were some interesting parallels. Just as designers in the gift trade are finding it hard to attract work as the recession deepens, with many being made redundant, so are authors being shed by publishers. Many are finding it hard to get their latest work commissioned, and if you’re a new author, it’s especially difficult.
The book industry apparently has fashion trends just as do gifts. “Terrible childhoods” are now out, “uplifting personal stories” are in. “Eco” is out temporarily because too many books have been commissioned in the last couple of years; fairy and escape stories are in. What do you do if you’re an author and it takes two years to write a book?
Q. How do you keep up with trends – and is this important?
The answer for the author, says Kate, is to do what you really believe in. Follow your passion! If your heart isn’t in it, you won’t write a bestseller. This set me thinking. Is it the same as the gift industry? Many gift retailers will say it’s not. Gift retailing, they will say, consists of keeping up with the trends, giving the customers what they want.
They’re right of course – you need to know what the customer wants. But if you’re passionate about customer care and keeping up with the latest trends, that’s a passion in itself. The worst thing in retail is not to bother, not to change – to get stuck in the same old routine, without realising it.
If you’re really passionate about something, you may even start a new trend. Can you respond to something in the public eye that is not yet being catered for by current retailers? Taking risks, of course, is risky – especially in a recession! But that’s how the supermarkets, the Body Shop, and fair trade, one of the fastest growing sectors in the UK at present, started. They all started not with products but with a belief and with passion.
What’s next? I know of only two eco-shops in the UK, in London and Glasgow. I suspect there may soon be many more (will they be run by campaigners whose experience of retail is limited, or will they be started by people who know what they’re doing?) The issue of climate change is already high on the public agenda, and will become more so as the Copenhagen summit, which will replace the Kyoto protocol, approaches this autumn. Concern about global warming can only grow, and I believe sustainable, recycled and fair trade products are going to attract increasing support. Canny retailers are already taking note! If you show your customers you care, and you’re not just doing it to “greenwash” your business, you should thrive.
Gifts Today, February 2009
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Jeremy Piercy founded Shared Earth in 1986 when he opened his first shop in the centre of York. He later introduced Shared Earth’s own brand of fair trade gifts which were sold in the shop and also to wholesale customers.
Shared Earth is now the largest wholesaler and retailer of non-food fair trade products in the UK and has eight shops (York, Leeds, Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff, Liverpool, Stratford and Bristol) as well as on online shop and is a member of IFAT (International Fair Trade Association) and BAFTS (British Association for Fair Trade Shops). Shared Earth is passionately committed to fair trade principles and buys from 40 producers in 15 countries, the majority being fellow members of IFAT.
Shared Earth has recently launched a franchise opportunity for new or existing retailers to get involved. Next month Jeremy launches a book about how his business began, what it is like to be a fair trade buyer and where fair trade is going.
In this monthly feature, Jeremy will be imparting his views about retailing and revealing some of his secrets to success that you can benefit from.
Q. How do you choose fair trade gifts to stock and how do you know they actually are fairly traded as well as environmentally friendly?
Fair trade and environmental issues are closely interlinked and it’s a good idea to see what organisations, institutions or agencies a wholesaler belongs to. If you buy from an importer improved by BAFTS you can’t go far wrong.
I always try to visit overseas suppliers myself to ensure that our products are being made ethically in fair working conditions. While it is not always feasible to do so, I recommend that you know the origins of the products and make a few calls to make sure everything checks out.
Many wholesalers have an environmental policy, often published on their website. Have a look through this as it will give details of their company standards and code of practice and you can see if this matches with what you are looking for. Above all, do you trust them? If you think they’re just trying to “greenwash” their business with a few ethical statements or products here or there, be careful.
Environmentally friendly and recycled gifts are becoming increasingly popular amongst consumers as they want to know that the products they buy have been sourced and made ethically. They simply want to feel good about their purchase. Many experts are forecasting that recycled products will be a big trend this year. Add them to your existing stock and see how well they are received.
Price is important in a time of recession, but it’s not everything. Do you believe in your products? Are you proud of your business? With fair trade and recycled in your shop you can be even more proud. You will be following a customer trend and helping create a better world too.
Stratford Herald November 2008
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An ethical Stratford shop with a difference has opened just in time for the Christmas rush, and is further enhancing the credentials of the town’s official Fairtrade status.
The shop stocks among a range of 5,500 different gifts from around the world, boxes made from recycled crisp packets, note books made from recycled car tyres and photo albums made from bamboo.
Area shops manager Lynne Dawson explains that Stratford had been carefully selected as the retailer’s next location. “We are hopeful that we will do well here. We place ourselves in the hands of the good people of Stratford and hope they like our products, and support us in what we do,” she told the Herald this week.
“We are the biggest non-food fair trade company in the country, but we want people to come here because our stock is beautiful and the fair trade is a bonus, rather than being a sympathy vote.
“We regularly go out to where our stock is made and meet the people who make it. Cambodia and Vietnam have always been into recycling things. Because they don’t tend to have much, they make the most of what they do have.”
Shared Earth began as a small shop in York 22 years ago in October 1986. Its founder, Jeremy Piercy, travelled to India after leaving school and wanted to do something to help redress the imbalance of wealth in the world. Fair trade was the obvious answer and the original shop contained a wide mix of products from Asia, Africa and South America.
“We felt there were still a lot of independent traders in Stratford and we felt we fitted in with that. The big out of town shops can house the big brands but we are better here, and we hope tourists and local people like what we do,” Ms Dawson added.
Also high on the agenda is addressing environmental problems and all Shared Earth shops sell a huge range of recycled and sustainable products including stationery, jewellery, toys, games and Christmas cards.
Making Money October 2008
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SHARED EARTH plans to open several more stores over the next year. The company launched the UKs very first fair trade franchise package in 2007 and sales from all the combined stores could double UK-wide sales of non-food fair trade products by 2012.
Fair trade products are becoming more widely available and increasing in popularity. An increase in consumer interest in fair trade has contributed to SHARED EARTH’s sales being 20 per cent up at the head office in York. The company’s Bristol store has recorded a 14 per cent increase, while average increase across all UK stores is seven per cent – and the trend is set to continue.
Awareness
“The worldwide fair trade industry has been steadily growing for over 20 years,” explains SHARED EARTH’s founder Jeremy Piercy. “This growth is now starting to accelerate. The supermarkets have done wonders for this awareness through selling fair trade food.”
Three in five British adults now recognise the fair trade mark, according to figures from the TNS Omnimas survey - and this number is rising. The SHARED EARTH franchise package aims to address the demand for fair trade products by making them more widely available in the UK through a franchise network of stores.
A selection of SHARED EARTH’s products can also be found online at www.sharedearth.co.uk.
Eco Ideas Magazine Autumn 2008
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Franchisor News Spring 2008
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Shared Earth has embarked on a carbon footprint project to calculate the combined impact the business, its employees and franchisees are having on the planet. This footprint will then be offset by a tree planting scheme later this year.
Part of Shared Earth’s new development process involves travelling to supplier countries to work with artisans. For an ethical and fair trading company like Shared Earth, the carbon emissions generated through these visits and other staff travel has conflicted with their values and created an ethical environmental dilemma.
Shop Assistant Manager, Laura Wilson, leads the project. “It is impossible to ignore the damage that humankind is causing the planet and the severity of the consequences of climate change if we do not act now. Travel is a necessary part of the job for some Shared Earth employees and franchisees, but this also means carbon emissions. Second best to not travelling at all is to travel responsibly by offsetting those emissions.”
As carbon offsetting becomes increasingly important in a company’s corporate social responsibility strategy, it is also becoming increasingly important to franchisees who want to own an ethical business that customers trust.
York News and Times May 2008
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At 9am on the 16th June the Shared Earth retail store in New Street, Birmingham will be visited by two very special teenagers who have flown all the way from Kuapa Kokoo cocoa farmers’ co-operative in Ghana to see their family’s products on sale in the UK.
Stephen Amankwah and Joycelin Segbedzi, both 14, will be visiting Shared Earth, and will be welcomed by Area Manager Lynne Dawson who has organised Fair Trade treat bags for them.
Accompanied by two giant Dubble Fairtrade chocolate bars, the two 14 year olds will make quite an entrance as they learn how their chocolate is loved by so many throughout the UK and work to extend their plea for more shopkeepers to stock Fair Trade goods through their campaign called Mission:Possible.
Shared Earth Birmingham, as well as Shared Earth’s six other stores across the country stock Dubble bars as well as the full range of Divine chocolate, Dubble’s parent company.
Sara Barron, Dubble HQ Producer comments about the visit “MISSION:POSSIBLE has had a fantastic initial response from our signed up Dubble Agents who are always asking us for new challenges and ways of spreading the Fair Trade message. We’re really delighted that Shared Earth is helping us promote the launch of the MISSION:POSSIBLE campaign in Birmingham. The success of Shared Earth is a testament to how popular Fair Trade and ethically sourced products are in the area. Shared Earth stores stock the full range of Divine and Dubble products and we’re hoping that other shops in Birmingham will follow their example and give Fair Trade goods a go!”
The Shared Earth store in Birmingham is the largest Fair Trade store in the UK with over 5,000 different products. It opened in 1992 and despite the current economic downturn, sales are 7% up on last year showing that people increasingly care about the products they buy. With 10 staff the store is open 7 days a week and many products can be found and bought online at www.sharedearth.co.uk.
Shared Earth was founded in 1986 and now sources its products from 15 countries through 37 producers. It aims to double the sales of non-food Fair Trade products in the UK through its plans to grow through franchising, which is the first Fair Trade franchise to be available in the UK.
Divine and Shared Earth are both members of IFAT (the world’s global Fair Trade Association) which sets the 10 standards of Fair Trade world-wide. Jeremy Piercy, founder of Shared Earth is delighted with the visit to promote Fair Trade, “It is great to have the link across the two sectors of handicrafts and Fair Trade food. Producers throughout the world make beautiful Fair Trade crafts as well as the food you see in the supermarkets. This campaign carries the vital message that all trade should ultimately be fair.”
Lynne concludes, “This is an exciting chance for these children to experience first hand their products being displayed and sold in the UK and really feel that they can make a difference to promote Fair Trade.”
Shared Earth’s Birmingham Shop front.
Gift and Housewares Magazine Spring 2008
 
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As we reported in our last issue of Gifts and Housewares, Jeremy Piercy and his team of Fair Trade crusaders were making their way to India to work alongside artisans there, to monitor the progress that had been made and see the difference that a fair trading company can make to these people’s lives. The trip was a tremendous success and in the two weeks that the team was there, a lot was seen and a great experience was gained. Both rewarding for the team and the people of India, places visited included Delhi, Agra, Saharanpur and Kolkata, where suppliers were working with hundreds of Indian producers to deliver Fair Trade products on a worldwide scale. The Shared Earth team was taken to a slum, orphanage, villages, cities and funded schools travelling right across India to discover the real positive impact that Fair Trade is making on the lives of the workers and their families. (more…)
What Franchise Magazine Summer 2008
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York News and Times April 2008
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With the launch of the first Fair Trade franchise in the UK, an outstanding team and a trend towards environmentally friendly retailing, York based company Shared Earth is exceeding expectations.
Established in 1986 Shared Earth has led the Fair Trade industry for over two decades, focusing on delivering products that consumers want by managing the design and development in-house. (more…)
Making Money April 2008
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With 20 new Fair Trade shops planned within the next five years, the UK can expect to see a huge increase in the sales of non-food fairly traded products.
Jeremy Piercy has worked within the Fair Trade industry for the past 20 years. He is well known for assisting overseas producers to help talented artisans create sustainable businesses to support entire communities in the developing world. (more…)
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