Fair Trade Summary 1992-2005:


In 1992 Charlotte di Vita founded her first ethical trading company in order to create environmentally sound and economically viable means to alleviate poverty in impoverished communities.

Since then her international ethical trading initiatives have achieved considerable success.

  • Since 1992, Charlotte di Vita's ethical trading companies have assisted producer groups in 21 countries by purchasing their handicrafts or sustainably-harvested rainforest products - Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Namibia, Mali, South Africa, Zimbabwe; Bangladesh, China, India, Nepal, Philippines, Thailand; Belize, Brazil, Columbia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru.
  • Charlotte di Vita has provided on-site marketing, accounting, export, design, pricing and negotiation skills training to 11 handicraft organisations in Ghana, Kenya, South Africa, Brazil, and Thailand entirely free of charge.
  • Charlotte di Vita's ethical trading companies have designed over 450 new products for clients. These include stationery, toiletries, collectibles, household items, musical instruments, garden ornaments, textiles, clothing and Christmas decorations.
  • These products have been marketed successfully internationally.
  • Today, a minimum of 482 individuals in China and South Africa receive a fair, reliable monthly income by producing for Charlotte di Vita's ethical trading companies. These crafts people support 1,680 members of their family, mainly elders and children, with the income they earn from producing handicrafts for the Charlotte di Vita Collections™ and the Trade plus AidŽ Design Studio .
  • To date, Charlotte di Vita's ethical trading companies and partners have purchased over US$5,500,000 million worth of handicrafts from producer groups in developing countries.
  • In 2003 the Charlotte di Vita Collections™ agreed a worldwide licensing deal with Goebel, one of the world's leading giftware companies, that guarantees a minimum fee of US$1.3 million over four years.
  • The Charlotte di Vita Collections™ is now recognised internationally as a leading collectibles brand.
  • To date, Charlotte di Vita has committed US$420,200 surplus profits from the sale of ethically traded handicrafts to fund development projects designed to alleviate poverty in 25 of the world's poorest communities in 14 countries
  • In 2003, the Trade plus AidŽ charitable trust agreed funding for 10 development projects to be implemented by carefully selected Project Partners in six countries in Africa and Asia: South Africa, Sudan, Zambia; East Timor, Mongolia and Vietnam.
  • In 2004, two further projects were funded through Charlotte di Vita and Trade plus Aid in Afghanistan and Thailand.
  • In 2005, Trade plus Aid agreed funding for another project in Mongolia.