1. Traidcraft’s approach to evaluating suppliers Alistair Leadbetter, Business & Training Consultant Traidcraft Consult

2. Overview of presentation
Context
Mission and approach
Our supplier base
Evaluation tool & process
2 way feedback – approach & lessons
Questions

3. Traidcraft at a glance…
Started in 1979 importing crafts from Bangladesh during famine
2 parts to Traidcraft – Traidcraft Plc & Traidcraft Exchange
Traidcraft Plc turnover 08/09 over £21m
Roots in crafts but now over 85% turnover comes from food & consumables
Multiple channel approach:
Fair Traders
Mail order & e-commerce
Wholesale
Fair trade and independent retailers
Mainstream partners eg M&S, Monsoon, Lakeland
Licensing partnerships eg our Geobar. Also juice, toilet tissue, confectionary & new developments like rubber gloves & charcoal

4. Traidcraft Consult Traidcraft’s business consultancy
Offer services to businesses keen to adopt and improve responsible and ethical practices
Act as a critical friend on social issues inherent in international supply chains
Build understanding and support change
Work closely with businesses in the UK and overseas
Research and evaluate supply chains

5. Traidcraft’s mission
We fight poverty through trade, practising and promoting approaches to trade that help poor people in developing countries transform their lives.

6. What that means in practice….
Traidcraft plc chooses to work with poor and small scale producers in developing countries
We work in partnership with our producers ...committing to long-term relationships and engaging in regular contact
We invest in development of producers to help them build professional sustainable businesses
We still have to run a profitable business!
Traidcraft plc is a profit making business, not a charity
We try to model a fair for all way of doing business
Our development work is paid for from the profits of the business

7. Our crafts partners… 42 partners in 17 countries
Range from large intermediaries with multiple producer groups to small family businesses

8. Our crafts partners…
42 Suppliers

9. Craft partners by length of relationship…

10. Our approach to working with our partners…
Long-term relationships
Commitment to regular trade
Support & development
Product development
Quality & logistics support
Business & social development
Fair trading practices
Fair & mutually agreed pricing
Advances
Mutual evaluation

11. Our approach to working with our partners…
Ensure Traidcraft remains true to poverty mission and keeps interests of trading partners at the heart of the business
Set order targets and monitor regularity of trade
Work with other departments to ensure practices are fair
Key contact point for producers
Conduct fair trade evaluations & monitor improvements
Coordinate support & development plans
Gather and provide information on and to our partners
Visit our partners every 1 – 3 years

12. An Overview of the Process
Our mission
Collect feedback
Our approach
Evaluation

13. Managing fair trade compliance….
Traidcraft sells two kinds of fair trade products:
Those carrying the Fairtrade Mark
Those for which there are no Fairtrade Mark criteria – most non-food/crafts

14. Traidcraft’s Evaluation Process
Tool based on core fair trade principles (WFTO)
Covers basic ILO labour conventions + more developmental standards
Relationship based approach
Awareness, assurance & improvement
‘Traffic light’ system
Two-way process
Involves local consultants wherever possible
Shared across European counterparts
Publish outcomes of partners assessment of us in our Social Accounts

15. Example – Trading Practices

16. Supplier Feedback Does Traidcraft…
Have policies & practices that enable our suppliers to work with marginalised workers or producer groups?
Provide regular information on Traidcraft, sales and development etc?
Pay prices that cover the cost of production, living wages & a reasonable level of profit?
Pay the agreed price at the agreed time
Provide pre-financing on request?
Provide adequate lead times for samples & orders?
Provide regular orders?
Provide clear specifications?
Have a clear & fair policy on rejects and cancellations?
Assist partners with plans to improve their businesses?

17. Main areas highlighted for improvement….
Provision of regular information on Traidcraft, sales and development etc
Response: more systematic post season information provided to help producers understand how things are going at Traidcraft and specifically how their own products have performed and why.
Adequate lead times for samples and orders
Response: for a few suppliers (mainly African ones) who struggle with seasonal or export issues we order a few weeks earlier than our normal critical path to give them extra weeks for production and shipping
Clear and fair policy on rejects and cancellations
Response: Clearer written policy being developed and tested for fairness with some suppliers. Note also adopting penalty clause

18. Benefits of the evaluation process
Ensure we live up to our purchasing policy & claims
Customers can be confident in our fair trade standards
Helps producers identify areas for improvement and take their organisations forward
Provides us with deeper knowledge of producers and their realities of their context
Helps us identify areas for improvement in our own practices
Builds trust & relationships between the parties
Focuses our support & development activities

19. Support & Development
During the evaluation process we discuss the businesses needs & plans for development
For those partners who need most help we try to identify areas where Traidcraft might be able to assist
We work with partners to develop Producer Support & Development Plans

20. For more information on what we do and how we could work with you, please contact Alistair Leadbetter at
or on +44 (0)