Producer support – "going the extra mile"

The Supplier Support team visits all Traidcraft's direct trading partners in turn. Our visits have several purposes, including:

• Checking that benefits are really reaching the poor and that there are no major problems (e.g. child labour, poor health and safety)
• Working with suppliers to see how we can help their businesses develop further
• Gathering extra background information and stories

Ensuring we trade fairly

We need to check as carefully as we can that our trade is really fair.

We visit for several days, often with independent local people who speak the language. Our visits include going to production sites to see the conditions and meet the workers.

If we find any problems, we work with our suppliers to seek a solution.

During our visits the supplier also has a chance to feedback on any problems they may have with Traidcraft.

A very important outcome from our visits is support for business development. This could be in many different ways and is always tailored to the particular supplier. Examples include training and grants to improve machinery.

Working in partnership

We have a strong sense of partnership with our suppliers and sign agreements to cover our trading and support commitments.

We also work with other fair trade organisations in Europe to ensure our activities are co-ordinated. This helps to reduce duplication of effort and bring more benefits to the suppliers and those who work for them.