This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/nov/05/traidcraft-eyes-young-ethical-consumers-with-rescue-plan
The article has changed 3 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
| Version 1 | Version 2 |
|---|---|
| Traidcraft eyes young ethical consumers with rescue plan | Traidcraft eyes young ethical consumers with rescue plan |
| (about 1 month later) | |
| Pioneering fair trade retailer Traidcraft, which had warned it was facing closure, has launched a turnaround plan that involves targeting younger ethical consumers. | Pioneering fair trade retailer Traidcraft, which had warned it was facing closure, has launched a turnaround plan that involves targeting younger ethical consumers. |
| The faith-based group has traditionally relied on thousands of volunteers selling its coffee and tea at church hall stalls and school fairs. But in September the company warned it would cease trading unless it could come up with a profitable model after poor sales were compounded by the Brexit shock to the pound. | The faith-based group has traditionally relied on thousands of volunteers selling its coffee and tea at church hall stalls and school fairs. But in September the company warned it would cease trading unless it could come up with a profitable model after poor sales were compounded by the Brexit shock to the pound. |
| Traidcraft chief executive Robin Roth said the organisation had drawn up a rescue plan after it received an avalanche of support in its darkest hour: “I was very worried when I put the call out but we received hundreds of emails and it encouraged me not to give up.” | Traidcraft chief executive Robin Roth said the organisation had drawn up a rescue plan after it received an avalanche of support in its darkest hour: “I was very worried when I put the call out but we received hundreds of emails and it encouraged me not to give up.” |
| The Gateshead-based company, which turns 40next year, is shedding 80% of its 67 staff and outsourcing its warehouse. In the new year it will relaunch with a paid-for membership scheme that will entitle shoppers to a discount. It is also slashing its product range to focus on popular food stuffs such as coffee, tea, sugar and rice rather than handicrafts. | The Gateshead-based company, which turns 40next year, is shedding 80% of its 67 staff and outsourcing its warehouse. In the new year it will relaunch with a paid-for membership scheme that will entitle shoppers to a discount. It is also slashing its product range to focus on popular food stuffs such as coffee, tea, sugar and rice rather than handicrafts. |
| Ethical investing: how you can do a power of good | Ethical investing: how you can do a power of good |
| Traidcraft had been struggling before Brexit as declining church attendance was compounded by the impact of austerity cuts on living standards. Sales had dropped from £16.5m in 2010 to less than £10m in the year to March when it recordeda loss of about £500,000. Over the past five years it has shed more than 1,000 of the volunteers who ran the weekend stalls, leaving it with around 4,300, many of whom are elderly. These stallholders generate half its sales.“We are the sort of business that pays up front,” said Roth. “So when the pound fell after the Brexit referendum, we took a hit. We also stand by our published prices, so unlike other retailers we stood by our customers, absorbed a lot of the additional cost, and kept price rises to a minimum.” | Traidcraft had been struggling before Brexit as declining church attendance was compounded by the impact of austerity cuts on living standards. Sales had dropped from £16.5m in 2010 to less than £10m in the year to March when it recordeda loss of about £500,000. Over the past five years it has shed more than 1,000 of the volunteers who ran the weekend stalls, leaving it with around 4,300, many of whom are elderly. These stallholders generate half its sales.“We are the sort of business that pays up front,” said Roth. “So when the pound fell after the Brexit referendum, we took a hit. We also stand by our published prices, so unlike other retailers we stood by our customers, absorbed a lot of the additional cost, and kept price rises to a minimum.” |
| In the 1980s and 90s Traidcraft helped bring fair trade products to the mainstream but Roth said it had gradually been “sidelined” as the major supermarkets moved in to what is now a £1.6bn market in the UK. To regain the upper hand it would now aim to set a more radical agenda by breaking down the price of its products to “make transparent the costs, prices and profits involved in every product it sells”, Roth said. | In the 1980s and 90s Traidcraft helped bring fair trade products to the mainstream but Roth said it had gradually been “sidelined” as the major supermarkets moved in to what is now a £1.6bn market in the UK. To regain the upper hand it would now aim to set a more radical agenda by breaking down the price of its products to “make transparent the costs, prices and profits involved in every product it sells”, Roth said. |
| “We want to tell consumers who gets what from the Traidcraft products they buy,” he said. “We will push the boundaries of what people understand fair trade to be. We can’t let supermarkets define that for us. We should be leading and they should be following. We will cause good trouble, just as those six fair trade pioneers who started Traidcraft did back in 1979.” | “We want to tell consumers who gets what from the Traidcraft products they buy,” he said. “We will push the boundaries of what people understand fair trade to be. We can’t let supermarkets define that for us. We should be leading and they should be following. We will cause good trouble, just as those six fair trade pioneers who started Traidcraft did back in 1979.” |
| The organisation’s future plans include tapping into new food trends such as the zero-waste shoppers who want to buy cooperatively and in bulk to avoid excess packaging. “When new markets are searching for goods that are ethical, vegan and organic as well as fair trade, we need to be there,” said Roth. “We need to address a younger audience. It’s not enough to be church-based.” | The organisation’s future plans include tapping into new food trends such as the zero-waste shoppers who want to buy cooperatively and in bulk to avoid excess packaging. “When new markets are searching for goods that are ethical, vegan and organic as well as fair trade, we need to be there,” said Roth. “We need to address a younger audience. It’s not enough to be church-based.” |
| Ethical business | Ethical business |
| Ethical and green living | Ethical and green living |
| Retail industry | Retail industry |
| news | news |
| Share on Facebook | Share on Facebook |
| Share on Twitter | Share on Twitter |
| Share via Email | Share via Email |
| Share on LinkedIn | Share on LinkedIn |
| Share on Pinterest | Share on Pinterest |
| Share on WhatsApp | Share on WhatsApp |
| Share on Messenger | Share on Messenger |
| Reuse this content | Reuse this content |