Colemans Offices Supplies Ltd

How did you make the decision to buy Fairtrade?

Everyone is aware that it is better to purchase Fairtrade products than to support other brands due to the vastly improved lives of the workers of Fairtrade campaigns. An executive decision was made to enable us to promote the items and that we should be practising what we preach.

What were the main factors for switching to Fairtrade products?

Organisation's Social Responsibility Policy

What were the biggest challenges in introducing Fairtrade?

Convincing people to use it without complaining as it was mentioned that Fairtrade tea bags had a much weaker flavour than other brands eg Tetley.

Have you faced any challenges in procuring Fairtrade goods? If so, how have you tackled them?

We are very limited with where we can purchase these products from. We use two stationery wholesalers (Spicers and VOW Europe) and obviously can use supermarkets. These methods of purchasing work out very expensive, but we try to do the best we can on the price for our customers. There is not much we can do about our cost until we can find somewhere else to purchase the products.

How and to what extent has Fairtrade been incorporated into your procurement/tendering policies? Do you have a CSR policy? If so, does Fairtrade fit into it?

Unfortunately we struggled to find any other supplier so we are limited with the policies we can enter. However we promote the goods as frequently as possible, and try to encourage our customers to us them as we do. We are working on our suppliers to come up with some assistance for us to promote them further.

How has the transition to Fairtrade been communicated internally and/or externally?

We haven't made a big attempt to broadcast this transition internally or externally. The staff here have taken well to the transition anyway, but we should really promote our goods more with the added emphasis on us using the products too.

Would you consider there to have been any benefits since using Fairtrade products?

Our 'feel good factor' internally has improved no end, and we feel comfortable in selling the products now we use them. We are in the process of implementing a CSR strategy within which we would hope the use of Fairtrade products would help.

What was the reaction to the switch from your employees and external stakeholders?

Internally, there are a few people who really do like using Fairtrade products and having that support means we can infect others with the enthusiasm we have.

What advice do you have for a workplace wishing to switch to Fairtrade?

Just do it! The products taste great, the 'feel good factor' makes you feel like you are doing that extra little bit for the world, and it's easier to sell the products if you practise what you preach!

Photo of colleagues enjoying Fairtrade products at work.