Original Source and Fairtrade

At Original Source we are proud of the Fairtrade Honey and Shea Butter that go into our Shower Gel and Handwash.

The honey comes from the Valdivia region of Southern Chile, often known as the ‘lakes’ region. Through Fairtrade we support the members of the API Co-op  who produce the honey by paying them a fair price for their honey, as well as the Fairtrade premium which they can invest in their business or community, and we are investing in their laboratory facilities through our Fairtrade Trading Partnership Plan. Our producers have been keeping bees for honey since 1980 and they are now experts in the area. They have even started a ‘Bee Veterinary Service’ to help beekeeping members to maintain healthy stocks of bee colonies and to help keep the bees bbbbuuuuuzzzzziiiiinnnnnngggg.

The shea butter comes from Burkina Faso in West Africa. Shea nuts play an important economic role in the region where they are the primary source of income for women who harvest and sort the nuts and produce the shea butter. The nuts are collected from the bush or from trees in the cotton fields owned by the women’s husbands giving a valuable source of additional income. We are continuing to work on our commitment to the UGPPK, Union of Shea Butter Producers, who make our lovely shea butter, it’s an exciting project for us to be involved with!

We’re absolutely buzzing about Fairtrade, find out more below and at www.fairtrade.org.uk

Who are the Fairtrade Foundation?

Fairtrade Foundation is an independent non-profit organisation which looks after all things Fairtrade in the UK. Working with businesses, farmers and consumer groups in over 4000 products they work hard to make sure the producers get a fair deal for their products.

What do they say?

The Fairtrade Foundation partnership with Original Source shows that the brand is living up to it’s name and values by ensuring that they support the people who harvest the ingredients for their products.   Fairtrade producers will get both a guaranteed fair price and an additional premium for investment in social development projects and benefit from a trading relationship aimed at helping to support them.  We hope that there will be many Original Source products carrying the FAIRTRADE Mark.’  Harriet Lamb, Executive Director of the Fairtrade Foundation

What is Fairtrade?

Fairtrade is a simple way each one of us can make a difference through our everyday choices. It’s about better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability, and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers in the developing world.

The FAIRTRADE Mark means that

• a minimum price is paid to Fairtrade producers covering their costs of production.
• producers in Fairtrade co-operatives always get a democratic say in decisions- women included.
• the producers receive an additional Fairtrade premium, an extra amount of money to invest in their businesses and communities.
• a Fairtrade Trading Partnership Plan exists to enable companies to make partnership commitments to the producers from whom they source.

What makes our products Fairtrade?

Our Shea butter & Honey shower  gel and  hand wash now contain Fairtrade Honey and Fairtrade Shea butter.  While our new Cranberry and Honey scrub also contains Fairtrade honey, meaning all three products  can carry the FAIRTRADE Mark. We’re really proud of these so are really shouting about them!

Why choose Fairtrade?

World trade is not fair. Small scale farmers and workers in the developing world face the challenges of rising food and fuel costs, an increasingly unpredictable climate and volatile prices for their goods.
By choosing products with the FAIRTRADE Mark you are guaranteeing producers are being paid a fair and stable price for their products, allowing them to develop their business and work their way out of poverty. For more information visit http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/