Fair Trade

Fair trade is a global social movement that aims to improve the livelihood of the disadvantaged populations around the world.
It encompasses principles such as:

• Anti-slave, anti-child labour
• Environmentally friendly processes
• A respectful relationship between producers and buyers
• A fair wage for the producers
• A healthy working environment for producers
• Gender equality with respects to wages and working conditions
• The development of communities for self-sustainability

Fair trade is a trading partnership, based on dialogue, transparency and respect, which seeks greater equality in international trade. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of, marginalized producers and workers.

• At Bayshore Imports the majority of our products come from Indonesia where we personally visit all our suppliers, to find or develop new products. We travel to Bali, Lomboc and Java as each of these islands offer different products, mostly from locally sourced materials.
  
• We choose to focus on easily renewable resources such as the fast growing softwoods and bamboo, clay products, and fabrics that are hand painted or woven in small family run operations.
  
• Our suppliers are mostly operating from their own family homes where all the generations of one family gather to carve, paint, string beads or weave. Each person in these extended families has their own part in the process.
• We buy directly from all the families whom we have come to know over the past 15 years. They set the prices and determine their own wages and profit to share among themselves.
• We use local shippers rather than foreign run operations to co-ordinate and load our containers.
  
• We do not condone "sweat shops" or "child labour".