Qualifying Suppliers
Local Fair Trade suppliers will be either:-
- start up businesses, which require intensive initial investment to enable the owner to achieve economies of scale and better cash flow resulting in a livelihood for the owner; or
- fledgling businesses within the local food sector seeking to concentrate their endeavours simply on production rather than both production and retailing and which therefore require cash flow protection in the intervening stages; or
- established businesses which have been unable to invest in their mode of production due to harsh trading conditions over the last two decades and which require additional investment to take advantage of the burgeoning local food market; or
- owner managed businesses which are not able to pay the proprietors the minimum wage who are themselves working over sixty (60) hours per week.
