It's Valentines Day next Friday and if you're looking for a gift that keeps on giving, we have plenty of fairly traded ideas. How about one of these unusual tin heart-shaped mirrors from Mexico, something from our exquisite range of Carousel jewellery (resplendent with a Swarovski crystal), or a sumptuous bar of fair trade chocolate for those in love.
Also check out our Mexican greetings cards for a Valentine's card with a difference!
It's a bit of a tongue-twister, but we're taking a short break from fair trade tomorrow to go to a trade fair - Spring Fair at the NEC in Birmingham. The start of the year is a great opportunity to look back at what has tickled our customers' fancy over the past twelve months, and think about which styles and designs may be hot for 2014.
We're hoping to see some new suppliers who may have interesting new products for the shop, and to catch up with some of our existing partners. Wherever possible we will source products directly from the artists or cooperatives which produce them, but our UK-based suppliers play a hugely important role in making fair trade products accessible to a home-grown audience.
We hope to have the results of our latest expedition online soon - keep checking back for some fantastic new lines in 2014.
There are so many diet fads around at this time of year, we thought we'd suggest a fair trade one. As well as shifting those pesky pounds* you're sure to sleep better at night knowing your choices have improved the lives of many people. It goes like this:
Breakfast
A cup of fairtrade coffee - there are plenty of options here, Cafe Direct have a great selection and ALL of Sainsbury's own range is fairtrade, even the basics!
Traidcraft's Exotic Fruit GeoMuesli containing Chilean and South African raisins, Tunisian dates and Ugandan banana.
Topped with sliced fresh banana - bananas are the theme of this year's Fairtrade Fortnight, put pressure on your local shops if they're not already stocking fairtrade!
Lunch
Zaytoun cous cous with olives and fairtrade avocados and locally grown tomatoes.
Fair & Square Chocolate brownie made with fairtrade chocolate and sugar.
Fruit Passion orange juice
Snacktime!
Bombay Mix made with a fair trade spice blend
Dinner
Lentil dahl made with lentils from Malawi, with local vegetables and fairtrade fine beans. Add some extra zing with Eswatini Kitchen's Swazi Fire Sauce.
Fairtrade Malbec red wine (voted the best fairtrade wine from Co-op by Fairtrade Hay!)
Bedtime snack
A bar of Zotter chocolate and a mug of Divine fairtrade hot chocolate
(*please note this is just for fun and we're not guaranteeing any weight loss!!)
We're back in the shop after an incredible trip to Cuba. A really remarkable place, and without adding to the cliches, a "land of contradictions." The country seemed to be teetering on a see-saw balanced between left and right. Friends we've spoken to who have visited previously tell us it has changed a huge amount over the past decade, and I've no doubt the next ten years will see that change continue. At its heart though the story of the revolutionary struggle was quite remarkable to see played out in reality.
Now that we're getting back into the swing of things we have big plans for 2014. We want to increase the diverse range of products we're stocking to reach as many potential customers as possible. We hope to grow our online audience so that customers outside of Hay can still join in the fun - if there is anyone you can recommend us to we would really appreciate it!
We are also planning an exciting event for the spring - Hay Green Fair, a celebration of all that's great about green Britain. We'll have inspiring speakers, great stalls, activities and fun for all the family. More news on that soon.
Thanks for choosing to shop fair trade in 2014 - you are making a real difference.
One of our best selling items in the shop is our range of "Elephant Cement" bags from Cambodia. Elephant Cement is a real cement company which exports its product to builders and merchants around the world. Our colleagues at Craftworks Cambodia use the sacks with their distinctive elephant designs to make a range of eye catching accessories that support the artisans who produce them.
Wallets, messenger bags, iPad cases and phone cases are just some of the fair trade products we sell with the Elephant Cement brand. By using a raw material that might otherwise go to landfill, and providing employment for people who might otherwise struggle to make ends meet, this range is a true sustainable success story.
We are by no means the only UK shop to sell these bags, and we meet lots of customers who have picked similar items up on their travels. However we also work with Craftworks Cambodia on their range of unique jewellery made from recycled bullets and bomb casings. As far as we know we are still the only UK retailer to sell these. An incredible gift with a message of hope and peace.
