Spain: first fair trade shop celebrates its 20th anniversary

At the beginning, customers were moved by solidarity but today most of them are loyal consumers appreciating articles' top quality

di Ges

Diario de Noticias de Gipuzkoa ? 21 December 2006

Emaús was opened in San Sebastián (The Basque Country) with the will of helping producers from underdeveloped world areas. Its 20th anniversary recalled the difficult inception of the project, a small shop in the ancient quarter of the city. A project that was initiated by people most of whom came from exclusion, poverty and loneliness who decided to join their modest savings collected through the recovery furniture and clothes to start up the first fair trade shop in Spain on the basis of some European examples.

Once those promoters achieved enough money they travelled to different European countries in order to get in touch with distributors and buy the first articles of fair trade. Today, that pioneer initiative has become a social enterprise called ?Emaús Comercio Justo? that has seven selling points in different areas of Spain and is mostly staffed with women migrants. Fair trade products are also sold in conventional shops and big supermarkets.

At the beginning, customers of fair trade were moved by solidarity but today most of them have become loyal consumers of articles that they know have top quality.

More information on:
http://www.emaus.com/01integracion-comerciojusto.htm

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