JTS Annual Report 2020 / 2021
Nicola Taylor • October 26, 2021
Dignity through Trade
We are delighted to share our review of 2020/21 with you, a year with both huge challenges and notable achievements. This was a year where we continued to work closely with our producer partners and where our staff went above and beyond to respond to the challenges of the pandemic.
Read Annual Report
Read Fairtrade Movement Position Paper
The pandemic affected our whole supply chain. We were extremely humbled by the concern expressed by our producer partners when the UK was suffering the worst of the first phase of the pandemic and pleased to be able to honour and indeed increase our orders from these partners as the pandemic situation worsened for them.
We were delighted to be awarded WFTO Guaranteed Status demonstrating that we adhere to the ten principles of Fair Trade. With the climate emergency upon us, and COP26 being held in Glasgow in a few days, never before have these principles been more important, and the work that JTS undertakes more significant.
A recent report issued by the fair trade movement (which you can find below), highlighted the opportunities for producers, workers, and consumers to partner together to adopt more nature-based solutions, with smallholder farmers playing a vital role in feeding the world and doing so sustainably. We endorse that report and firmly believe that there can be no climate justice without trade justice.
We will continue to focus on putting people and planet first and we look forward to your support to help us fulfil our mission to provide Dignity through Trade.
We hope you enjoy reading our brief report.
Please click the buttons below to read the JTS Annual Report and the Fair Trade Movement Position Paper “Placing fairness at the heart of climate ambitions”
After six years of leadership, Mary Popple has retired from her role as Chair of the True Origin Board to assume the role as an ordinary board member. She leaves a legacy of steadfast, values-led leadership, resilience and commitment to Fair Trade during a period of significant transition for the social enterprise. First appointed to the True Origin Board in 2013, Mary became the first woman to take on the role of Chair in April 2019. Her journey into the position was shaped by a successful career in the IT industry and a passion for Fair Trade. Mary was an active member of the influential St Andrews Fair Trade group which successfully campaigned to designate the town as a Fairtrade area, and for The Open Golf championship to become the first UK sports tournament to commit to using Fairtrade products. This was complemented with over twenty years’ experience of involvement in other trade justice and development opportunities for women. During her six-year tenure as Chair of the True Origin board, Mary strategically led the social enterprise through a challenging external environment at a challenging time for many small businesses. Less than a year into her new role, the Covid pandemic emerged, causing significant uncertainty for staff, producers and customers as well as disruption in global supply chains. The war in Ukraine and cost-of-living crisis soon followed. Despite the challenges, under Mary’s leadership, True Origin generated over £2.3million in sales income that included £733,000 worth of Kilombero rice from Malawi. That’s equivalent to 245 tonnes or nearly 5 million servings of rice! The sale of the rice provides families in Malawi, one of the least developed countries in the world, with sustainable incomes and better food security. Mary played an instrumental role in rolling out the social enterprise’s rebrand and positioning the organisation as the go-to place for fair and fine products under the new True Origin banner. The product range subsequently increased during her tenure, solidifying True Origin’s reputation in the fine foods market. New products included a range of condiments such the soon-to-become both a customer favourite and one of Mary’s favourite products, sun-dried fig balsamic reduction as well as the popular beer bread of which over 150,000 packets were sold during her term. Mary’s leadership as Chair will also be remembered for her values-led approach, guiding the organisation to decisions with its founding fair trade principles in mind and the interests of producers always at the forefront. She invested time in expanding the board’s skillset and further developing the organisation’s robust governance procedures, upholding True Origin’s commitment to transparency with its stakeholders and leaving the organisation in a strong position to tackle future challenges. She also brought an instinctive knowledge of Fair Trade customers in Scotland and beyond to the role.
Our former Operations Manager and now volunteer, Liam McLaughlin caught up with Kenneth Mwakasungula on the challenges of being a Kilombero Rice farmer
R eflections on the recent visit of Howard Msukwa, Rice Farmer from Kaporo Smallholder Farmer Association (KASFA)
Jade and Nicola visit some of the Woman Farmer Foundation farmers to learn more about their crops and farming techniques and some of the challenges they face.
Nicola and Jade visit Eswatini Kitchen and the Woman Farmer Foundation.