About Fair Trade Jewelry

Why fair trade?

Fair trade is a trending buzzword for ethically conscious fashion lovers all over the world. If you’re new to the world of fair trade, you probably have some questions. Producers and other companies can become members of an international fair trade federation that regulates its members to ensure they comply with fair trade principles. But not all companies who are passionately committed to fair trade principles belong to a fair trade federation. The cost of certification is often considered too expensive and unnecessary by Artisan communities in areas of extreme poverty, who would rather invest that money directly into providing better wages and benefits to support and promote their Artisans.

Why is Trades of Hope a Fair Trade Federation Member rather than Fair Trade Certified?

While there are several differences between the two, the primary reason we cannot be Fair Trade Certified is that we do not manufacture the products ourselves. We pay Artisans 100% of their asking price for the products they created in accordance to Fair Trade values. We are Fair Trade Federation Members due to our commitment to uphold and follow the Fair Trade guidelines and requirements.  This membership is certified through the Fair Trade Federation, but again, since we do not actually manufacture the products within our organization a Fair Trade Certification is not applicable to us.  We do, however, work to ensure that all of our Artisan Partners follow the Fair Trade requirements.

What fair trade principles are our Artisan communities committed to pursuing?

The Fair Trade Federation provides 10 hallmarks of authentic fair trade principles that help protect, support, and promote the people who make the jewelry we buy, sell, wear, and share. *

#1 Growing Artisan and Farmer Businesses 

Trades of Hope is a missional fair trade business committed to keeping families together and preventing human trafficking. We partner with Artisans and local community outreach programs in 19 countries to promote and provide opportunities for women to break free from poverty and human trafficking and enjoy safe housing, skills training, jobs with fair wages, health care, education, clean water, and counseling. Our Artisan business partners create quality jewelry, fashion, accessories, home décor, and ethically produced coffee using unique skills from their own cultures. We pay our Artisan partners upfront to provide them with a secure income. Trades of Hope provides a global marketplace to sell Artisans’ products through our website, lookbooks, and styleboards. Trades of Hope Partners to share Artisans’ stories of hope and sell their products through home parties and social media every day and through our website 24/7.

#2 High Quality, Authentic Products

In areas of extreme poverty, many Artisans rely heavily on readily available natural materials like ethically collected wood, leather, bone, and feathers – which are often byproducts of food and farming industries – in order to prevent waste and maximize product quality with minimal expense. Using natural renewable materials helps Artisans earn higher wages without compromising product quality. Each Artisan group is provided with inspiration, guidance, and support by our Product Development Department that help them continually improve their quality standards. 

#3 Going Beyond Fair Wages and Safe Working Conditions

Fair trade ideology goes far beyond helping families survive. Fair trade ideology believes in giving families the power to thrive. The Artisans who make our jewelry work in clean, safe, and well-lit workspaces while earning wages that are usually significantly above their government’s mandated minimum wage. Depending on their personal needs and the available resources of their local Artisan community, they are offered opportunities to learn, grow, advance in their careers, and pursue their dreams. 

#4 Positive Change – Socially, Economically, and Environmentally

Our Artisan business partners are committed to ethical production and business practices that protect and preserve the environment, as well as the positive influences and heritage of their cultures. They’re encouraged to create positive social change in communities where women have traditionally endured gender discrimination, exploitation, abuse, and poverty. All Artisans, both women and men, are encouraged to become entrepreneurs who are treated as equally respected business partners. 

#5 Strengthening Communities

Many Artisans once traveled great distances for opportunities to enjoy skills training, safe workspaces, and fair wages. But in an effort to allow them to spend less time and money traveling, workshops are often intentionally relocated closer to Artisans’ villages, so they have more time and money to invest in their families. When relocating a central workshop is not possible, many of our partnering Artisan communities equip their Artisans to be able to work from home. 

#6 Socially and Environmentally Responsible

In areas of extreme poverty, vulnerable workers – including women and children – are often exploited by sweatshops, a form of modern-day slavery and human trafficking that commonly includes forced labor, unreasonable hours, unsafe working conditions, and unfair pay. Trades of Hope commissions our jewelry to be handcrafted in safe workspaces, using environmentally responsible and ethically sourced materials, by Artisans over the age of sixteen-years-old who freely choose to earn fair wages, as Artisan partners. 

#7 Empowering Producers

Our jewelry is designed to encourage and support multi-generational Artisans who are passionate about preserving their cultures’ traditional crafting techniques and producing quality designs that do good by supporting their local businesses and communities. Partnering with Trades of Hope helps these Artisans expand their global market. Trades of Hope’s designers and product development Home Team members offer Artisans support with skills training, design, and product development. When Artisans’ businesses grow through increasing product quality, including timely production and delivery, it’s a Win!-Win!-Win! for Artisans, Trades of Hope, and you as a shopper, Party Hostess, or Partner. 

#8 Made and Grown the Traditional Way

We strongly encourage our Artisan business partners around the world to use traditionally and ethically sourced materials and preserve Artisan techniques that have been passed down for generations as much as possible. While we value preserving and promoting Artisan traditions, our core mission is to help preserve, support, and promote the individual Artisans and their families. This means that we encourage our Artisan partners to use scrappy determination to find ethical ways to incorporate their beloved Artisan traditions with sustainable production processes that allow them to earn a living wage. While yes, some of our jewelry is crafted using very traditional manual techniques, some of our jewelry is also crafted using more modern tools for the safety, productivity, and benefit of our Artisans partners. 

#9 Developing Long-Term Partnerships Built on Trust

Representatives from Trades of Hope strive to visit the Artisan communities we partner with to observe Artisans’ working conditions and learn how we can help Artisans grow their businesses, help their families thrive, and make a positive impact on their local communities. Artisans are treated as business professionals and equally respected partners. We provide them with opportunities to grow their skills and abilities – not charity. As partners, we encourage and challenge each other to be our best, and we choose to believe the best about one another. We allow each other the freedom and grace to learn from our mistakes, grow, and rise to the challenge to change ourselves, as we strive to change the world through fashion as a force for good. 

#10 The Deepest Commitment to Fair Trade

Trades of Hope understands that no business partnership – even a partnership based on fair trade principles – is perfect. But we strive for excellence in abiding by fair trade ideology and practices. There will always be room for growth and improvement from every product, partnership, and person involved, but we are committed to honoring the human value of every Trades of Hope product and partnership. Our jewelry is made by Artisans who are consciously committed to improving the lives of women and families in their community. They intentionally provide Artisan skills training and create opportunities for fair-trade jobs in areas of extreme poverty, so Artisans can provide for their families’ needs and hope for a better future.  

Why is fair trade jewelry by Trades of Hope unique?

When you buy, sell, or wear designs from Trades of Hope you’re partnering with a company who believes in fighting poverty and human trafficking by providing women with opportunities to create a better life for themselves and their families. Trades of Hope was founded on the principle that everyone deserves a chance for a better life, no matter where they were born or the circumstances of their life. We stand behind the idea of mothers helping mothers, women helping women, and families helping families by working together as equally respected partners to empower each other to pursue our dreams through fashion as a force for good. Our jewelry is designed to provide safe, sustainable, and dignified jobs for women in areas of extreme poverty where vulnerable women are often exploited by sweatshops and human traffickers. We intentionally pursue business partnerships with Artisan communities who support our mission to empower women and families. Many of our Artisan partners are survivors who are overcoming abuse, homelessness, and human trafficking, including sweatshop exploitation, child labor, and sex trafficking. We hope to help empower them not only financially, but also holistically, through partnering with Artisan communities who offer additional benefits like trauma counseling, health care, childcare, and interest-free home loans. These benefits look different in each independent Artisan community, because they are offered according to local and individual needs, as well as available local resources. We traditionally strive to partner with approximately 80% female Artisans, including mothers, sisters, daughters, aunts, and friends and approximately 20% male Artisans, including fathers, brothers, uncles, sons, and friends who are all working together to lead their families out of poverty. As a certified member of the Fair Trade Federation, we ensure that our jewelry is made by Artisans who have committed to producing our designs according to the fair trade principles outlined by the Fair Trade Federation. Whether you are buying or selling our jewelry, you can know that you are investing in and supporting the people behind our products. 

*“Home.” Fair Trade Federation, Fair Trade Federation, 2020, www.fairtradefederation.org/.