Community Trade
We launched Community Trade in 1987. It is our commitment to trading fairly with suppliers and in exchange we offer good trading practices and independence building prices.
The world is our source of beauty
We source some of the finest raw ingredients and hand-crafted accessories from the four corners of the globe. We harness the skills of small-scale farmers, traditional artisans and rural – cooperatives who are experts in their field. We add our expertise to create effective products that are made with love and care.
We pioneered fair trade in beauty and today we have 26 Community Trade suppliers in 21 countries around the world, benefiting 25,000 people. See where our ingredients come from here.
KEY ACHIEVEMENTS
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1987
Community Trade
1987
Community Trade
Our pioneering Community Fair Tradeprogramme started when The Body Shopstarted sourcing ‘footsie’ massage rollersfrom an education and employment charityin India, which became a best-selling line
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1989
Paper
1989
Paper
We bought Nepalese sustainable paper gifts made from plants clogging local waterways, leading to new employment for people and seed funding for community projects
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1993
Sesame Seed Oil
1993
Sesame Seed Oil
We sourced our first Community Fair Trade ingredient – sesame seed oil
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1994
Shea Butter
1994
Shea Butter
Anita discovered shea butter from Tamale, northern Ghana
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1999
Cotton
1999
Cotton
We sourced organic cotton Moisturising Gloves and Socks from Mauritius
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2007
Supply Chain Award
2007
Supply Chain Award
We were awarded ‘The Big Tick’ Business In The Community Supply Chain Award
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2008
Alcohol
2008
Alcohol
We were the first to use fair trade organic alcohol in cosmetics
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2009
The Institute for Marketecology (IMO) certificate
2009
The Institute for Marketecology (IMO) certificate
The Institute for Marketecology (IMO) certified our Community Fair Trade programme
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2011
Global Shea Alliance
2011
Global Shea Alliance
We helped establish the Global Shea Alliance, bringing industry members together to improve benefits for producers and increase the number of women involved in the trade
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2013
Business In The Community Award
2013
Business In The Community Award
BITC named The Body Shop International Responsible Business 2013, based on our Community Fair Trade programme