The official Fairtrade organisation has thus far been mainly concerned with coffee, cotton, bananas and some other agricultural products and they haven't yet had the time or resources to be able to produce certification or recognition for organisations involved in artisanal products.
Pending introduction of an "Artisanal" or "Handicrafts" Fairtrade category, Drums for Schools follow guidelines for existing (agricultural) products and have adpated these a little to the different circumstances of the artisanal marketplace.
Specifically:
- We know our suppliers personally and not just the owners or managers but many of the individual artisans too. In many cases we know their working conditions and their families and they know they can talk to us directly;
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We visit suppliers 4 times per year and we spend time with them to help them improve their designs and production methods. We also regularly bring new designs (often starting out from suggestions from you our customers) and help them develop these into working prototypes and then into production.
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We pay top prices - usually related to market price plus a premium for care and quality;
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We're loyal to our suppliers and have stayed with the same small group of suppliers since our beginnings.
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