An article in the Times today reported sales of Fairtrade goods up by 12% in the UK. The majority of this was due to an increase in Chocolate and Coffee sales (Cadbury and Starbucks). However there was not an equivalent increase in sales of Cotton. Other interesting snippets in the article was that now all 58 flavours of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream are made with Fairtrade ingredients. Sainsbury’s is the worlds biggest retailer of Fairtrade goods.
http://business.timesonline.co.uk/tol/business/industry_sectors/retailing/article7035597.ece
So – as Cotton Roots is in the business of Cotton, how do we make our contribution and start to increase sales in cotton? Our stategy is to supply good quality garments at a competitive price. For example offering garments which if the are labeled “medium” actually are “medium”. Time after time. It sounds common sense but in our industry this is not always the case and we searched high and low before finding our manufacturing partner. They consistently makes for us top quality garments every time and it is organised beautifully by Morses who continues to give us confidence. It means that when a customer comes back to us for their second and third orders they are confident of what they will receive.
Price – always a sensitive issue. Again in our industry companies are used to being able to purchase T shirts and polo shirts at incredibly low prices. However we do believe “you get what you pay for” and we have customers who do want good quality garments, printed or embroidered with their logo, along with excellent quality service. Fairtrade T shirts do cost a little more but not that much more. We want to offer good quality at a comparable price and give a real option.