Fair Trade

In 1985 the Bishopston Trading Company ( www.bishopstontrading.co.uk ) was set up with the sole aim of creating employment in K.V.Kuppam. The village has had a friendship link with Bishopston in Bristol since 1978. Initially there were 5 people in K.V.Kuppam producing clothes which were designed and marketed in Bristol. The company has been a workers’ co-operative since 1989 which means that its management and business dealings are more open than for a private company. They have only one mission statement which is; ‘Trading and retailing with regard to helping promote the social welfare and well being of its suppliers and producers’. They also claim that they are; ‘Importing directly from rural India with the sole aim of Fair Trading.’

The Bishopston Trading Company shop in Glastonbury, Somerset.

Inside the Glastonbury branch.

BTC sell clothing and accessories for women and children made from Fair-trade certified organic cotton and have 5 shops in the West of England and produce 4 mail order catalogues a year. Their products are also sold via their web site. They have over 100 wholesale customers in Europe and around the world. They are members of BAFTS and IFAT and licensees of the Fair-trade Foundation. You can find out more about how the company began in ‘A Very Special Friendship’.

Making Organic Cloth

Production of Clothes & Accessories