All our felt products are made in a WFTO & Fair Trade USA-certified facility. (Both at Company and Product level).
While Papoose Toys itself is not directly certified yet, we guarantee that all our felt products come from an ethical, Fair Trade-approved source.
Papoose Toys prides itself on transparency and clarity, and is happy to share the below information.
What is FAIR TRADE?
Actually, I think the question needs to be: What is the purpose of FAIR TRADE.
1. Fair Wages & Better Working Conditions
✅ Ensures workers and producers receive fair wages for their labor.
✅ Promotes safe, healthy, and dignified working conditions.
✅ Prohibits child labor and forced labor.
2. Empowering Communities & Producers
✅ Provides stable, long-term trading relationships.
✅ Ensures producers receive a Fair trade Premium to invest in community projects (e.g., education, healthcare, infrastructure).
✅ Encourages self-sufficiency and empowerment rather than exploitation.
3. Ethical & Transparent Business Practices
✅ Requires traceability and transparency in the supply chain.
✅ Eliminates unethical middlemen who exploit small producers.
✅ Ensures equitable pricing and contracts for suppliers.
4. Environmental Sustainability
✅ Encourages sustainable farming, production, and resource use.
✅ Prohibits the use of toxic chemicals and unsustainable materials.
✅ Supports climate adaptation efforts for farmers and producers.
5. Consumer Awareness & Ethical Shopping
✅ Helps consumers make informed, ethical purchasing decisions.
✅ Creates a market for responsibly made products.
✅ Encourages businesses to commit to sustainability and fair trade practices.
Bottom Line: Fair Trade exists to protect workers, promote ethical business, ensure fair pricing, and support environmental sustainability in global trade.
There are different ways of being involved with Fair Trade.And there are different organizations like the WFTO, Fair Trade USA. A business can 'piggy-back' on a group that is Fair Trade but not be individually registered. Fair Trade USA is the most stringent PRODUCT fair trade certification a workshop can obtain.
Then, just to make it even more confusing, you can register at COMPANY level.
Next question: What is the difference between certified Fair Trade at COMPANY level and at PRODUCT level?
Fair Trade at Company Level
✅ The company as a whole is Fair Trade Certified™.
✅ Focuses on the business’s ethical policies and supply chain practices.
✅ Does NOT mean products are individually Fair Trade Certified.
✅ The company may sell both Fair Trade and non-Fair Trade products.
✅ Certification is based on overall commitment to fair wages, sustainability, and ethical sourcing.
Fair Trade at Product Level
✅ Each product is independently Fair Trade Certified™.
✅ The product must meet Fair Trade standards from sourcing to final production.
✅ Includes traceability checks, fair wages, and sustainable materials for that specific product.
✅ Ensures that specific product directly supports Fair Trade farmers, artisans, and producers.
Company-level Fair Trade certification means the business follows Fair Trade principles, but products may not meet Fair Trade criteria.
Product-level Fair Trade certification guarantees that a specific product is made under Fair Trade conditions.
Where does Papoose Toys sit in all this?
As a company, we looked at getting Fair Trade registration many years ago. However, after lots of research I decided at the time it was a slippery road to travel: I have never ONLY supplied Fair Trade products, it has always been a mixture. I did not want it to look like we were "Fair Trade Green-Washing".
However: ALL our FELT products are WFTO guaranteed and USA certified Fair Trade, ALL our COTTON products are certified WFTO Fair Trade guaranteed.
Our wooden items from Indonesia are not certified Fair Trade, but, we have worked with the artisans for many years, and pay fair prices, set by them, for the products we buy. We call this Trading Fairly.
When I started Papoose Toys (first known as Colours of Australia), I was not much aware of Fair Trade and what it meant.
I started working in Bangladesh, around 2004 or 2005, and was introduced to a Fair Trade company. That was the first time I really got to see what it meant and how it positively impacted on the local community, and of course, especially the women.
Everywhere in the world, women are always responsible for looking after the kids, and companies that cater to mothers by offering facilities for the kids to go to school, in this case, on the premises where the moms were working, making such a difference to their ability to earn money.
When I started working in Nepal, I went over to meet the people, see the factory and make sure for myself that there were no children at work in the factory. (which there weren't).
Soon after I started work with this company, they started to apply for Fair Trade registration and I was in Nepal several times when the Fair Trade team came out to observe, investigate and check every little detail of the factory.
It is amazing to see what it actually takes to become properly Fair Trade compliant; it's not only about fair wages and happy workers, there's so much more to it: the building and its facilities, including safety measures in case there was a fire or earthquake. Which way do the doors open. Are there safe ways for people to leave the building if something happened. How many toilets. Cleanliness of all facilities. Food availability. Materials sourced and used. How the environment is impacted.
Honestly, the list goes on.
All the employees were interviewed, privately, so they could share their experience of working there.
On top of that, all the bookkeeping, hours worked, wages paid etc were thoroughly audited, not only the 'what', but also the 'how'.
I could go on but what I'm trying to explain is that to be properly Fair Trade registered (and even in that, there are various levels), takes a lot of commitment from the workshop. And it is not a once, 'let's get this done', kind of exercise. The audits are ongoing and the registration has to be renewed regularly.
You, as the customer, with a good heart, wanting to buy Fair Trade product, need to realize there's a lot to it and it's not always clear unless you really immerse yourself in the whole Fair trade compliance situation.
Being Fair Trade registered as a company, at COMPANY level, is a really great way to start the journey. But be aware that it does not mean the product is Fair Trade produced. It may be (at which level?) and it may not be.
Being an artist at heart, I've always thought my work/designs should speak for themselves, I didn't feel I needed the Fair Trade 'angle' to push my products.
However, the world has changed and, luckily, more and more consumers are aware and interested in 'the story', where does the product come from, who makes it, are they paid properly etc.
The majority of our products are hand made, all our felt items are from the only USA registered Fair Trade and WFTO Guaranteed workshop in Nepal.
I realize I need to make a few changes in my business as customers have a right to know what they buy, beyond the product.
Papoose Toys has always been about Natural Materials, we started with Wool, then added Wood and Cotton.
But in the last few years I've become interested in using other materials as well, like Lucite and Silicone. I design these ranges within the same parameters as the rest of our range but the materials are man-made, not natural.
So, as my last act of 2024, I decided to set up another company, LuminoPlay, to do the non-natural material products and bring Papoose Toys back to the core business.
This also seems like a good time to make sure my customers (and yours) know that our Felt products are produced with proper Fair Trade credentials.
If you have any questions about any of our products, feel absolutely free to contact me at renske@papoosetoys.com. I'd be more than happy to chat as well, email me to make a time for a WhatsApp chat.