About us...
Hi! We are Jacqui and David. We’re based in East Sussex, England. We are an ethical family run company importing hand made African arts, crafts and giftware.

We actively source and promote socially responsible projects and local craftsmen/women who create unique and beautiful products, but would otherwise be unable to supply to a global market because of financial and transport restrictions.

THE BACKGROUND TO OUR BUSINESS:

The inspiration behind “Fair Trade Out of Africa” was the desire to embrace the new energy in South Africa. Jacqui spent her formative years in Johannesburg and at a very young age was deeply touched by the sense of wrong doing the apartheid movement created. On revisiting South Africa again in 2004, after Nelson Mandela had lead his country into a new era, she was inspired by the spirit of hope and forgiveness, combined with the incredible energy and creativity of the South African people. Fair trade, handpainted candles were the first item that we imported and supplied to gift retailers in the UK, and realising the demand for such beautiful designs with a strong ethical message behind them, we sought to expand our business by also supplying candle holders. As soon as we had begun sourcing these, we realised the huge amount of amazing, socially responsible projects, empowering communities by creating fabulous works of art. We now supply individually designed crafts representing the warmth and vibrancy  of Africa, which are fairly traded and beautifully crafted to a consistently high standard. We support many community projects and also support individual craftspeople who would otherwise not have the means to reach a market outside their local community.

 OUR BUSINESS ETHIC:

  • Acting with fairness, honesty and integrity throughout all our business dealings
  • Offering consistently high quality products to our customers; being aware of our customers needs and dedicated to their satisfaction
  • Providing our suppliers a fair wage and opportunities to grow; help our suppliers reach their goals and feel empowered and motivated in their accomplishments; respecting their contribution to our success
  • Supporting community projects whose objectives are in line with ours – i.e. respect and empowerment of individuals
  • Taking into consideration the environmental impact of all our business decisions and acting with the least impact possible... to tread lightly upon the earth

We also offer Hawaiian Bodywork treatments... check out www.hawaiianbodywork.co.uk