The Shared Interest office will close for the Easter break on Thursday 28 March and reopen on Tuesday 2 April at 9am.

QR 110

THE BEGINNING OF KNOWLEDGE

Guayapi is a French importer and distributor of wild plants from the Amazon rainforest and the hills of Sri Lanka. Founder, Claudie Ravel, based the organisation on the principle that every ingredient they work with is organic, fair trade, and encourages biodiversity. Guayapi uses the Forest Garden Products (FGP) Certification to ensure this is the case when producing its food supplements, cosmetics, and luxury grocery items.

“We asked for financial assistance from Shared Interest. It helped us critically for the 2017/2018 harvest. Now our turnover is starting to increase well again. We hope to have a cleaner cash flow balance for the future harvests. More broadly, thanks to the Fair Trade Agreement with Guayapi, we have been able to give value to our Guaraná, and thus to our culture and territory."

Read the full Guayapi story in QR 110 here.






MEASURING IMPACT

Each year, we compile a set of externally audited Social Accounts, which detail our social, economic and environmental impact. 

We bring together over 11,500 individuals to achieve a common goal, investing currently £41.4m in Shared Interest Society between them. This capital allows the Society to provide loans and credit facilities. With members each investing between £100 and £100,000, we are able to lend money directly to businesses
across the world.
 
 
 

In 2018, our lending continued to increase. We supported over 175 producer groups and 32 buyer organisations, helping over 470,000 individuals in 63 countries, 39% of which were women.      

The full document is available to download on our website here.




STRIVING TO KEEP TRADITIONAL CRAFTS ALIVE IN PERU

Twenty years ago, Lucuma Designs, LLC, a US-based fair trade company, was founded by Alessandra Bravo and Don Blackowiak, to create opportunities for Peruvian artists to promote their finest craftsmanship. Soon after, they joined the Fair Trade Federation, a membership organisation of businesses who are committed to practising fair trade.

Lucuma Designs strives to keep traditional crafts alive by giving artists the opportunity to do what they love. They collaborate closely with approximately 300 artisans within 22 small groups and family workshops throughout Peru (80% being women). Recently, they started working with the native community of Boruca in Costa Rica. 
 
 

“Today, we see how the market is changing and demanding even more from us and our artists. I suspect even closer collaboration and a focus on meaningful relationships between consumers and artists will be key for the future.”  
 
 

Read the full Lucuma story in QR 110 here.



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