JTS celebrates achieving Guaranteed Member status of the World Fair Trade Organisation
Mary Popple • January 14, 2021
The Gold Standard for ethical business
Here at JTS we are delighted to have been awarded Guaranteed Member status by the World Fair Trade Organisation. This is the gold standard for ethical business and ensures everything we do is focused on the needs of producers and the protection of our planet.
This is an independent recognition achieved through a thorough self-assessment and audit process. Our work and the way we do it was all assessed against the 10 Principles of Fair Trade with all our staff taking part in the audit.
This is a great recognition of our mission to empower producers and consumers through the fair buying and selling of delicious food. We were thrilled at the response of the WFTO auditor and the reaction of some of our partners in the fair trade movement:
“JTS Ltd demonstrates a wholehearted commitment to fair trade across all aspects of its activities. All of the products it trades are sourced from marginalised producers and through the trading relationship, JTS demonstrates its will to improve the socioeconomic position of its suppliers and their producers.” WFTO Audit report
Martin Rhodes, the Chief Executive of the Scottish Fair Trade Forum commented “It’s is really exciting to see JTS being awarded full membership of the World Fair Trade Organisation (WFTO). The commitment of JTS to the Principles of Fair Trade in all that they do has been independently audited and verified by the WFTO. It is another sign of the continuing and growing commitment across Scotland to Fair Trade.”
Laura Cave, Chair of BAFTS Fair Trade Network UK responded “Massive congratulations to JTS on becoming a guaranteed WFTO member. Thoroughly well deserved! So excited to see greater collaborations and unity in the international fair trade community.”
Charlotte Timson (Traidcraft Exchange CEO) welcomed the news saying “Congratulations to JTS team, producer organisations and customers for this brilliant news of JTS becoming a WFTO Guarantee member. This is another evidence of the excellent work you have been doing with your partners in Africa, especially in Malawi. We hope this Fair Trade certification will allow the organization to reach new customers; and continue to increase the positive impact of JTS on those communities in Sub-Saharan Africa using fair trade as a key instrument of change; as well as providing the inspiration to JTS to include more best practices in its relationship with its partners.”
We are a small organisation with a long reach. We are proud of the producer relationships we have developed and we hope this recognition will enable us to strengthen our work with them over the coming years. As Chair I would like to thank all the members of the JTS team for their total commitment to achieving our Fair Trade mission and to the Board for backing us in all we do.
After six years of leadership, Mary Popple has retired from her role as Chair of the True Origin Board to assume the role as an ordinary board member. She leaves a legacy of steadfast, values-led leadership, resilience and commitment to Fair Trade during a period of significant transition for the social enterprise. First appointed to the True Origin Board in 2013, Mary became the first woman to take on the role of Chair in April 2019. Her journey into the position was shaped by a successful career in the IT industry and a passion for Fair Trade. Mary was an active member of the influential St Andrews Fair Trade group which successfully campaigned to designate the town as a Fairtrade area, and for The Open Golf championship to become the first UK sports tournament to commit to using Fairtrade products. This was complemented with over twenty years’ experience of involvement in other trade justice and development opportunities for women. During her six-year tenure as Chair of the True Origin board, Mary strategically led the social enterprise through a challenging external environment at a challenging time for many small businesses. Less than a year into her new role, the Covid pandemic emerged, causing significant uncertainty for staff, producers and customers as well as disruption in global supply chains. The war in Ukraine and cost-of-living crisis soon followed. Despite the challenges, under Mary’s leadership, True Origin generated over £2.3million in sales income that included £733,000 worth of Kilombero rice from Malawi. That’s equivalent to 245 tonnes or nearly 5 million servings of rice! The sale of the rice provides families in Malawi, one of the least developed countries in the world, with sustainable incomes and better food security. Mary played an instrumental role in rolling out the social enterprise’s rebrand and positioning the organisation as the go-to place for fair and fine products under the new True Origin banner. The product range subsequently increased during her tenure, solidifying True Origin’s reputation in the fine foods market. New products included a range of condiments such the soon-to-become both a customer favourite and one of Mary’s favourite products, sun-dried fig balsamic reduction as well as the popular beer bread of which over 150,000 packets were sold during her term. Mary’s leadership as Chair will also be remembered for her values-led approach, guiding the organisation to decisions with its founding fair trade principles in mind and the interests of producers always at the forefront. She invested time in expanding the board’s skillset and further developing the organisation’s robust governance procedures, upholding True Origin’s commitment to transparency with its stakeholders and leaving the organisation in a strong position to tackle future challenges. She also brought an instinctive knowledge of Fair Trade customers in Scotland and beyond to the role.
Our former Operations Manager and now volunteer, Liam McLaughlin caught up with Kenneth Mwakasungula on the challenges of being a Kilombero Rice farmer
R eflections on the recent visit of Howard Msukwa, Rice Farmer from Kaporo Smallholder Farmer Association (KASFA)
Jade and Nicola visit some of the Woman Farmer Foundation farmers to learn more about their crops and farming techniques and some of the challenges they face.
Nicola and Jade visit Eswatini Kitchen and the Woman Farmer Foundation.