In January 2008 FairMail got the good news that it is now officially a Fairtrade certified importer for the Dutch Association of Fairtrade Shops (LVVWW). A huge step for this Peruvian greeting card company which provied acces to a chain of 400 world shops!
The need to get Fairtrade certified had already been felt for quiet a while by FairMail initiators Janneke Smeulders and Peter den Hond. Both felt it was important we could prove to the outside world that we "Walk our Talk".
However getting certified is not easy and definately not cheap. Luckily FairMail's investor wanted to chip in. Then came all the paperwork and questionaires. After that is was time for an inspector of the World Shops to come to Peru to check that FairMail actually complies with the Fairtrade criteria.
In the end FairMail got a great 90% score! Mainly because FairMail pays an average of 85% móre then the local liveable wage. Also because FairMail complies with the most important ILO conventions.
This official recognition that FairMail "Walks it's talk" is an important next step for international expansion. To 6 sales countries and 3 production countries in the next 4,5 years!
See www.fairmail.info for more information about FairMail and fairtrade certification.
