A new co-operative – the Fair Traders Co-operative – is launching a share issue to raise finance for its pioneering work.The co-operative has been set up to help develop Fairtrade. It will be working closely with and buying Fairtrade goods from small producers in places like India, Tanzania, Malawi and Kenya. These will then be traded through a website and its shop in Holmfirth, Yorkshire.
Its aim, however, is to get its customers, other co-operatives and NGOs involved in the business by becoming part owners of The Fair Traders Co-operative. People can invest anywhere from £20 to £20,000, which will finance the development of the business.
Investors are not simply wanted for their financial contribution. The co-operative’s unique selling point is that every product sold will have undergone a thorough sustainability assessment in terms of the environmental, social, and economic impacts. Members will be able to get involved in this assessment process, using the website to feed in comments and their assessments of the products.
The Fair Traders Co-operative, which will begin trading in early 2010, has a big vision of how its co-operative structure – in which customers and interested organisations are active members – can make it a pioneer of sustainable, intelligent consumerism.
For more information on the growing use of community share issues in the UK visit http://www.communityshares.org.uk/
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