Today's Economy Affecting Retailers?

You betcha! And, I believe more so for those retailers like myself that market not based on the lowest price but on creating social awareness. When the going gets tough or the dollar needs to be stretched ,consumers look for the lowest price possible. I don't blame them; I do too. Let me back up a bit. I sell products made by craftspeople from around the world, normally from third world countries where health care, quality food, and even the old roof over the head, can be considered luxuries. Buying crafts from Fair Trade organizations or groups using Fair Trade methods to do business means the people making them are being paid a living wage. A living wage is not the minimum wage. Ever tried to live on the minimum wage here in the good old US of A? Pretty tough, now try it in Peru or Vietnam. A living wage is typically higher than the minimum wage paid out in that country. It allows for the worker to be able to afford better food and housing, health care and schooling.

That's all good, but what happens is that the cost of the product is a bit, and I mean just a bit, higher to the buyer (me), but I know its worth it. Then comes transportation costs. Because I am a small retailer, I buy small lots which means a lot of air freight. Fly lately? The cost of fuel has skyrocketed and that means products coming from overseas cost a lot more. Often, I pay more in transportation costs than I do the product.

So what does all this mean? Well, the other day I was in need of some springtime inspiration and decided to visit one of these large chain clothing and home decor stores. With a new pair of sandals in hand I decided to stroll the home decor aisles and was floored to see African masks, bamboo bowls from Vietnam, majolica ware from Mexico all on sale for prices even cheaper than buying them direct from the artisan group. And, to make matters worse, the aisles were full of my target audience loading up on the sale items. I thought to myself, do they know that when they buy this some poor child may have made it? Or that, the artisan may be working long days in unsanitary conditions? Fair Trade has not made it into the big chains and to be honest, a lot of people still do not understand the concept.

Just because we have to start pinching pennies due to our slowing economy doesn't mean our conscious buying decisions should be thrown out the door. Now more than ever, it is important to think about the whole process - who made it, where did it come from, is this something I need, will this be something I won't toss into the garbage in a few weeks, is it made from sustainable materials, and on and on?

Ownership means more than plunking down your credit card. Ownership means taking responsibility!

Mamacuna Traders Approved by Co-op America's Green Business Network

Mamacuna Traders, LLC, a retail Internet site for the sale of global handcrafts and Fair Trade products, has been approved for membership into Co-op America’s Green Business Network. Co-op America is the nation’s leading non-profit educator on socially and environmentally responsible consumption and investing. The Green Business Network, established in 1992, is the oldest, largest, and most diverse network of socially and environmentally responsible businesses in America with over 3,500 member businesses. Applicants must pass a standards questionnaire regarding environmentally and socially conscious business practices before they can be accepted into the Green Business Network. As part of the network, Mamacuna Traders will have access to the tools and information provided by Co-op America’s Green Business Network to help to educate consumers and the community on the advantages of going green as well as socially conscious buying practices.

Mamacuna Traders features Fair Trade handcrafts from around the world such as home décor, baskets, African art, ceramics, textiles, jewelry, and handbags. Because the middle-man is cut out of the Fair Trade process, more of the cost of the art goes directly back to the artist. Mamacuna Traders is committed to providing fair wages and good employment opportunities to economically disadvantaged artisans and farmers worldwide.

October is Fair Trade Month Right Here in Porstmouth!

With the onset of crisp nights and vivid foliage, October signals a change of season as well as being designated Fair Trade Month by TransFair USA, the U.S. certifying agency for Fair Trade Certified™ products, along with other grassroots coalitions, retailers, and other product licensees to promote awareness of Fair Trade. For many of us, Fair Trade appears to be a bandwagon we don’t know much about. Often, our initial introduction to Fair Trade happens at a coffee shop or in the grocery store, and it’s within the agricultural industry that Fair Trade practices have become very successful. So successful, that according to Fairtrade Labeling Organizations International, consumers spent about $2.2 billion on Fair Trade Certified products in 2006, a whopping 42% increase over 2005.

But still, people are confused on the difference between Fair Trade and free trade, assuming that Fair Trade is more of a marketing gimmick than anything else. Briefly, free trade is an age-old business model that in simplest terms states “I’ll buy your stuff, but I want it cheap, so I can sell at a profit.” Free trade allows the flow of products and services between people and territories. Free trade is profit based for both sides dealing in it and often does not consider consequences to people or the environment.

Fair Trade, a social movement, began in the 1940’s through religious organizations and non-government organizations (NGO’s) supporting local craftsman in order for them to buy food, shelter and other necessities of life through craft fairs and church bazaars. Where free trade has faltered is in their effort to make trade, and hence money, countries undermine the very resources that make them profitable, namely the people and the environment. Wages are low, healthcare benefits often non-existent, as well as natural resources are depleted. The result is a poorer population dependent upon the government and an environment that once provided, now either poisoning the population or unable to provide for it.

Fair Trade provides an individual, business, town, or a country, a triple bottom line. The triple bottom line is that which affects people, the planet, and profit. By providing for sustainability in natural resources as well as the workforce, the triple bottom line demonstrates a commitment to social responsibility. The artisan uses materials that are either recycled or come from sustainable sources like certified wood under stewardship programs. The farmer grows crops without the use of harsh chemicals and pesticides and utilizes methods to increase crop production and vitality without damage to the environment. Both the artisan and the farmer are paid a “living wage” which is an hourly wage that allows the individual to afford a certain standard of living to include housing, food, health care and more. The products from both the artisan and the farmer are sold without the middleman, direct to the retailer, thus cutting costs from the final product to the consumer. So, in effect, the cost differentiation of a Fair Trade item from one that is not Fair Trade is not significant. The final determination of price is based on the quality of the product. Fair Trade coffee tastes better not because it is Fair Trade Certified, but because it is better, from the bush to the grinder, without all the processing and handling that normally, not only affects price, but taste and quality.

As consumer awareness increases, businesses are looking to include Fair Trade products in their catalog, from handcrafts to food items. Several towns in the U.S. have become Fair Trade towns. This past May, the Portsmouth Fair Trade Coalition was founded to build support for Fair Trade products in New Hampshire. Run entirely on a volunteer basis and working in tandem with local community groups, businesses, and Fair Trade regulatory organizations, the PFTC hosted has hosted a Fair Trade World Craft Festival in downtown Portsmouth this summer as well as screenings of the documentary, “Black Gold” in order to encourage increased participation of Fair Trade practices. Currently, the PFTC is working to introduce Fair Trade classes into schools’ curricula. For more information on the Portsmouth Fair Trade Coalition, email info@fairtradeportsmouth.org.


Already, a number of businesses are carrying Fair Trade products. And several new Fair Trade businesses have made Portsmouth their home base. Businesses carrying Fair Trade products in Portsmouth include but aren’t limited to; Water Money, Mamacuna Traders, White Heron Tea, Ceres Street Bakery, Philbrick’s Fresh Market, Portsmouth Health Foods, Victoria’s Og Juice Bar and Caffe Killim. So, as you shop around Portsmouth during the month of October, forget saying “trick or treat,” and instead ask if they carry Fair Trade products. You just might find that the chocolate candy you receive this Halloween is Fair Trade!

The Truth About Advertising

Mamacuna Traders is almost a month old now and getting some attention from local media and a few fashion Internet sites. The PR campaign now takes second place to the Advertising Campaign. This is the part that many small and new business owners try to avoid. Why?

Because it's painful!

First of all, in your initial business plannings you put a nice little pile of money aside to blindly throw to the gods, right? That's advertising! But there are ways you can make it less painful to the wallet and to the ego. Your market. Research how your market gets their information. Baby boomers are not so easily swayed by print or TV ads, but receive most of their information through peer-to-peer advertising. Us, more mature individuals, receive information in a variety of ways with print still up there in the fight for our attention. With Mamacuna Traders we want to reach a broad age range of people with similar interests; the world, environment, human rights, collecting really cool and highly individualistic stuff. We are also an Internet retailer so going to print might be reaching the wrong audience. After much time and phone calls and lots of number crunching we chose to advertise on Care2.com.

What is Care2.com? It's a place where people from all over can gather and share their interests and concerns regarding the environment, spirituality, the animal kingdom, our oceans, human rights, you name it! So far, the reception has been great and I personally recommend the site to further connect with like minded beings.

How much does advertising cost? This depends where you want your ad to be seen, how large, color or no color, and how often. A modest budget could range from $1K to $3K a month for start ups. I know, it sounds painful but it is necessary to get your brand out there and noticed. And will they notice? Not right off the bat. It may take several viewings in order to compel someone to click through to your site.

How can you measure the success of your ad campaign. It's very easy if you start off with nothing. If you know how often your ad is showing or when you can track the response rate of page views on your website. But measuring ad results from print is more difficult still. So, in order to measure our success rate with Care2.com we will continue the campaign and then add on with a new marketing tool each month and again measure website activities. Personally, after being in marketing for so many years I look forward to seeing what type of advertising does the best for www.mamacuna.com; forums, email, online, maybe a forehead or two?

In the realm of importing goods from far off lands, you would never think a simple thing like a shell could cause a commotion. Now, I have a broker, and a really good one too. Remember, when starting a new business, make sure you get a good group of people around that are experienced in their profession around you. I knew from the start that dealing with customs and all the paperwork would take someone with a lot more experience than me! My broker loved to tell me this story about a person that owned a beautiful antique piano. It required repair and the only place for the repair was back in Germany. So it went. Upon its arrival, the beautiful piano was held up in customs because the keys were made of ivory. Now, each time my broker was telling me this story, you would think it might dawn on me that in my order coming from Peru are these beautiful earrings made of shell, you know mussel shell, and they might cause the same problem as the piano keys?



So the day arrived, my shipment was in Boston. I'm all excited to see the beautiful stuff from artisans in Peru and get it up on my website http://www.mamacuna.com/ when I receive a call from my broker's office. The young lady asked me about the shell earrings - perhaps they were in the shape of a shell?? No, I replied and I also began to feel a little faint because I could sense that these cute little earrings might hold up this big shipment. Do you have a license, she asked me? Drivers? License to Kill? Business? Nope, I needed a Federal Fish and Wildlife Permit.



Even though I could sense the fact that my brokers office probably shook their heads over my license "newbieness", they helped me to get the license moving that day. Now, fair warning to all of you potential importers. A shell is not a shell when its a shell. In other words, you better get familiar with your scientific names. And this is not for just shells, my importing friends, but egg shells, bone, leather, anything that ever had life potential.



Now speaking of shells, we just got in this wicked cute little evening purse from our Fair Trade producer in Vietnam. Check it out in our sidebar.

Bringing the Newborn Business Home

With a great deal of Buddha belly rubbing, www.mamacuna.com finally went live, very quietly on September 8, 2007. But behind the silent birth of our brand new Internet baby, our doctor (known to most people as a web master) was still busy with life support (otherwise also known as tech support). You see, those of you who shop onthe Web, never see the wizards behind the curtain. For those of you insane enough to spend all your hard earned money (or better yet, someone else's) on creating a Web based business complete with online shopping capabilities, it's not so apparently seamless. There are various layers; the design shell or the pretty website, the merchant services or those kind people that service your credit card transactions leaving only small bruises on your bottom line, the shopping cart itself, the all-too very important accounting software, and finally, the software that acts much like a conduit between all of them, making everything appear magical. You shop, you find, you like, you buy, you click!

Not necessarily so. For about a week after we went live, one system wasn't fully talking to another and no one on either side seemed to be able to figure it out even when we were able to provide the snippet of information that needed to be changed. Here is where a good technical person is invaluable. Our guy was on point that entire week dogging these companies up the ladder from bored receptionists to self-important techs to the invisible but all-seeing programmers. I like to think that our guy not only made our lives easier from that point, but brought two companies together in a more spiritual way - at least through the divine province of code.

So, if the insane idea of opening a restaurant isn't for you, but the insane idea of starting an Internet retail site is, then make absolute sure you invest in a good web master. He or she is not only responsible for creating a wonderful illusion for your customers, but building that business rocket you can ride.

Now, back to Buddha. This Fair Trade Laughing Buddha from the Mitra Bali Foundation in Indonesia is the first prize to be given away at the end of September to some lucky Mamacuna Traders Enewsletter subscriber. So, if you aren't on the list, you won't be rubbing belly anytime soon. Subscribe at www.mamacuna.com.

And, just to keep you salivating. I unpacked some beautiful Talavera ceramics from Mexico and some very cool scarves, bowls and shell purses from Vietnam. Keep your eye on Mamacuna Traders for new stuff every week!

Mamacuna Traders Has Launched!

PORTSMOUTH, NH (September 2007) Mamacuna Traders, LLC, a Portsmouth, New Hampshire company, has launched a retail Internet site, http://www.mamacuna.com/ for the sale of global handcrafts and Fair Trade products. The site features home décor items such as baskets, ceramics, table ware, statues, lighting, bedding and a variety of handbags, jewelry, hats, scarves, and belts. Handcrafts from Peru, Guatemala, Mexico, Nepal, Indonesia, Ghana, Swaziland, Kenya, Uganda, Thailand, and Vietnam are all represented on the site.

Many of the handcrafts are produced by organizations that are Fair Trade Certified and several are within the certification process for fair trade practices in their various countries. They receive fair compensation for their products by wholesalers and retailers. Mamacuna Traders provides up to 50% of the cost of production up-front to help the artisans buy supplies. The Fair Trade Federation is an association of wholesalers, retailers, and producers whose members are fully committed to providing fair wages and good employment opportunities to economically disadvantaged artisans and farmers worldwide. For more information on the FTF, logo onto http://www.fairtradefederation.org/.


“We were inspired to start an import business, while on vacation in Peru, earlier this spring,” Laura Burgess, President and Co-Owner of Mamacuna Traders. “The handcrafts we’ve received from the various Fair Trade artisan groups are steps above any tourist items in quality and detail. Plus, working with Fair Trade organizations and artisan groups practicing Fair Trade concepts, assures us that as a company we are making strides in helping to lift disenfranchised men and women out of poverty throughout the world. Many of the handcrafts created by these artists would slowly disappear if it wasn’t for the efforts of organizations and retailers, like Mamacuna Traders, to bring them to market.”

Every month, Mamacuna Traders will feature a new handcrafted doll from around the world. For the month of September the featured doll comes from Guatemala. The site will also provide information on an artist or artisan group. September features Malindi Handcrafts out of Kenya, Africa. The cooperative is owned and operated by member woodcarvers with a full 80% of its profits returned to its members. The Featured Non-Profit page will take a portion of the sale price of a particular product to help a special cause anywhere in the world. Mamacuna’s first non-profit featured is U.S.A. based DonorsChoose, an organization that engages individual citizens in an online marketplace where teachers describe and individuals can fund specific student projects partially or completely. The DonorsChoose program will run through November 2007 with the purchase of any Baby Alpaca Teddy Bear from Peru at http://www.mamacuna.com/.


For more information on Mamacuna Traders, LLC or any of its products, log onto http://www.mamacuna.com/ or call 603-436-1748. To stay on top of what’s happening at Mamacuna Traders, LLC check out the blog at http://www.mamacuna.blogspot.com/.

About Mamacuna Traders™, LLC:
Mamacuna Traders, LLC was founded in March 2007 in Portsmouth, New Hampshire as an Internet retail site for globally sourced handcrafts and Fair Trade products.