Trade Aid closes doors after 40 years
Trade Aid manager Ali Parr will look back with fond memories when the Feilding store closes on Friday.
The fair trade importer has felt the effect of a changing retail landscape and ends its 40-year association with the community on Friday.
The not-for-profit organisation has aspirations of lifting the world’s poor out of poverty. It acts as a third party by selling craft and food products from over 60 trading partners, which represent hundreds of thousands of small farmers and artisans in Africa, Asia, Latin America, Palestine and the Pacific.
The Feilding store is driven mostly by volunteers, some of who will join the Palmerston North branch
Parr joined the store in 1999 and became the manager in 2006.
Through the organisation she had been on educational tours of Vietnam and Bangladesh.
‘‘It’s a different shop for Feilding,’’ she said. ‘‘It has been our pleasure to bring all Feilding locals, visitors and fair trade supporters the finest handmade trade products for over 40 years.’’
Parr said meeting the people whose goods they sold was a lifechanging experience.
After visiting Bangladesh last year, she saw many of the producers were living in poverty.
‘‘One family of six that we work with was living in a 3x4 metre house and used the rooftop for cooking and laundry.
‘‘It was quite surreal,’’ she said at the time.
‘‘Being able to to witness the conditions they work in was something you can’t forget. They don’t get chairs - they’re sitting on stools or the bare ground.’’
Parr said one example of fair trade alleviating poverty was a producer who had saved enough money to buy a motorised threewheeler, or an auto-rickshaw, to help transport his products.
Trade Aid Importers’ chief executive Geoff White said the introduction of large multinational companies to the New Zealand market and growth in online sales had made a challenging environment to operate in.
‘‘We need to look at and rationalise our network so we can remain strong and sustainable for the future.’’
Feilding Bin Inn will continue to sell some of Trade Aid’s consumable goods.
Other products will be shipped to the Palmerston North Trade Aid branch.