Trip to Columbus Circle
No trip to New York would be complete if on my way to the Met, I didn't stop by Whole Foods to see how the kiosk version of 'fair trade' was doing and to see if our products were still being copied, and sold there. (My company, Baskets of Cambodia started in Cambodia in 1996.)
Happily enough, I no longer saw cheap copies of our products sold and shamelessly marked 'fair trade and unique' - soma for the masses.
What I did see was interesting. At this World of Good kiosk, was a picture supplied by Baskets of Cambodia years ago and still in place. We had requested all our promotional material be removed from their promotional sites after having many of our purses rather ruthlessly copied. The rest of what I saw was also interesting; items clearly made in massive quantities- perhaps meant to be 'fair trade' tokens of sorts - maybe to serve as talismans for good luck, good karma, whatever.
Then above it all some glossy advertising for NCDP in Phnom Penh. (National Center for Disabled Persons) They are close to my house in Phnom Penh so I was quite interested. It was a great write-up - the same write-up World of Good was using in Atlanta - problem was nothing made by NCDP was actually being sold there.
Recently World of Good claimed they helped over 15,000 artisans although I think this claim has recently been pulled. It's kind of like me saying I am helping 15,000 Korean artisans when I buy a Hyundai; a wee bit misleading. At Baskets of Cambodia, we have over 300 people who work for us, and believe me our hands are full. I can't imagine being the General Motors of 'fair trade' - what that must be like.
But back to NCDP - whose products were nowhere in sight in either Atlanta or New York, but whose advertising was so prominent. NCDP is a small charity with recently between 30 and 40 people working for them so their output is not great. From the flyer on site, you would think they were a major supplier.
The items actually being sold by World of Good were clearly made is great quantities, yet there were no pictures featuring these obviously much larger operations than NCDP. The Fair Trade Federation sticker seemed to be on everything in sight, although World of Good stopped being a member sometime last year.
And there was this little picture of the smiling workers from Baskets of Cambodia, my company, even though we stopped selling to World of Good a few years back after blatant copies of our designs were being sold.
So the lesson appears to be - find large operations to make things you can call 'fair trade' - but at the same time find smaller operations where you can actually put the faces, the people in context, and use these to provide the feel good image. Sometimes the 'fair trade' pill can be a little hard to swallow. The lesson here is to add some sweetener in the form of companies or charities that can give your other operations more credence. World of Good has now joined with eBay on-line to further this concept and capture that 'fair trade' dollar.
TY
Happily enough, I no longer saw cheap copies of our products sold and shamelessly marked 'fair trade and unique' - soma for the masses.
What I did see was interesting. At this World of Good kiosk, was a picture supplied by Baskets of Cambodia years ago and still in place. We had requested all our promotional material be removed from their promotional sites after having many of our purses rather ruthlessly copied. The rest of what I saw was also interesting; items clearly made in massive quantities- perhaps meant to be 'fair trade' tokens of sorts - maybe to serve as talismans for good luck, good karma, whatever.
Then above it all some glossy advertising for NCDP in Phnom Penh. (National Center for Disabled Persons) They are close to my house in Phnom Penh so I was quite interested. It was a great write-up - the same write-up World of Good was using in Atlanta - problem was nothing made by NCDP was actually being sold there.
Recently World of Good claimed they helped over 15,000 artisans although I think this claim has recently been pulled. It's kind of like me saying I am helping 15,000 Korean artisans when I buy a Hyundai; a wee bit misleading. At Baskets of Cambodia, we have over 300 people who work for us, and believe me our hands are full. I can't imagine being the General Motors of 'fair trade' - what that must be like.
But back to NCDP - whose products were nowhere in sight in either Atlanta or New York, but whose advertising was so prominent. NCDP is a small charity with recently between 30 and 40 people working for them so their output is not great. From the flyer on site, you would think they were a major supplier.
The items actually being sold by World of Good were clearly made is great quantities, yet there were no pictures featuring these obviously much larger operations than NCDP. The Fair Trade Federation sticker seemed to be on everything in sight, although World of Good stopped being a member sometime last year.
And there was this little picture of the smiling workers from Baskets of Cambodia, my company, even though we stopped selling to World of Good a few years back after blatant copies of our designs were being sold.
So the lesson appears to be - find large operations to make things you can call 'fair trade' - but at the same time find smaller operations where you can actually put the faces, the people in context, and use these to provide the feel good image. Sometimes the 'fair trade' pill can be a little hard to swallow. The lesson here is to add some sweetener in the form of companies or charities that can give your other operations more credence. World of Good has now joined with eBay on-line to further this concept and capture that 'fair trade' dollar.
TY
Comments