10 Shared Earth Founder Jeremy Piercy tells Gift Focus Editor, Louise Prance, about the company’s ethical ethos and how fair trade is at the heart of everything the company does When did you start up and why? Shared Earth opened in 1986 as one of the first Fair Trade shops in the UK. After leaving school I travelled overland to India and was impressed both by the richness of people’s attitudes to life and their hospitality and positivity in the face of adversity. Shared Earth was founded both to earn me a living and to repay some of that hospitality, to recognise that we are all ‘one’ in this world, whatever our race or culture. What challenges have you overcome since the company’s launch? Shared Earth is now nearly 40 years old and has gone through innumerable challenges – recessions, growth, shops closing etc. In 1992 we started wholesaling, initially a range of recycled paper greetings cards, to less than a dozen customers; now we sell to over 1,000 retailers. We’re a growing business, ideally placed to provide the type of products consumers want in a time of great change. Tell us about your product offering. We have a wide range of jewellery, accessories, clothing and gifts from 20 countries around the world. We specialise in recycled, whether it’s saris, plastic bottles, paint cans, glass, metal or elepoo – we’re the best! About 30 percent of our products are recycled and most of the rest are from sustainable raw materials – our jute bags and bamboo socks being two of our most popular ranges What are your most popular products? Other popular products include batik fans; crystal jewellery; wood spectacle stands; worry dolls; recycled plastic soft toys; solid shampoos; wool and recycled silk scarves; patchwork backpacks; organic incense and much more. How do you keep your designs fresh and current? Do you follow trends? We have about 3,000 products and we release about 800 more each year. We’ve been way ahead of eco trends, encouraging recycling and campaigning against plastic since we started in the 1980s. We try to keep an eye out for what customers want, which at the moment is toadstools, bees, foxes or hedgehogs next year? Cats, of course, are popular every year. One world
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