Traidcraft plc – sadly now in administration
On the 20th Jan it was announced that Traidcraft plc (the company from which we bought the fairtrade goods sold from the monthly fairtrade stall at St Luke’s) was going into administration and ceasing trading.
As a Traidcraft “fairtrade”, I was forwarded the letter from the board giving the reasons for the move. You can probably guess what they are: Covid-19; war in Ukraine; high energy and transport costs; lower spending by customers.
Of course there are plenty of places where you can buy your fairtrade staples – tea, coffee, chocolate, bananas, and so on. Hopefully there are or will be other outlets for the smaller producers of handicrafts and lower volume foodstuffs that Traidcraft helped support. I understand that no money is owed to producer groups.
As for us, we still have stock which we will continue to sell. If no viable alternative to Traidcraft emerges, then we will donate the proceeds appropriately.
If you want to know more, there is a very enlightening item on Traidcraft and fairtrade on Radio 4’s You and Yours programme (1 February). It is available on the BBC’s sounds app.
Thank you again for all your support over the years.