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Proud to be awarded:

Fairtrade certified cotton

The Fairtrade foundation is the independent body that awards the FAIRTRADE mark to products that meet international standards set by the certification body Fairtrade Labeling Organisations International (FLO).

Fairtrade cotton was launched in the UK in November 2005.

When the mark is awarded it demonstrates that small scale farmers at the sharp end of exploitation have been guaranteed a minimum price for their cotton and cotton seeds. In addition a further premium is set for farmers' organizations to spend on social and environmental projects. This ensures they have the resources to invest in long term improvements.

Cotton is subsidized in the EU, China and the USA which leads to an unsustainable fall in the price for small scale farmers in places such as India and Africa. Their cotton is of equal or better quality but as their cotton is not subsidized they struggle to survive.

Organic

The Fairtrade certified cotton products are often organic. Currently all those in our range are either organic or organic in conversion.

Organic in conversion

It is important we purchase cotton from farmers who have are in the process of conversion. It takes a number of years of farming organically before certification can take place. So while farming organically in principle, farmers can find this time particularly difficult until they get the certification.

We have decided to incorporate this cotton in some of our product range, as an indication of our support for these farmers. We always make this clear on our catalogue pages.

For more details: www.fairtrade.org.uk