“We have been passionate about ethically traded products since the day dot”

Premcrest are one of the longest-running UK businesses focusing on ethically made products, opening in 1968. Managing Director, Mohammed Zafir, described their unwavering principles since they began:

We have been passionate about ethically traded products since the day dot. Our mission is to make ethically produced, healthy, natural, eco-friendly products more accessible (by way of innovation, bigger range, and competitive price points.)

While conventional brands often turn a blind eye to harms in their supply chains, ethical sourcing is vital for Premcrest, who wholesale to various businesses including shops, hotels, catering organisations, schools and churches. Their domestic products are sold via their business-to-customer offering Fairtrade Warehouse which launched earlier this year Mohammed described their pursuit of transparent and accountable supply chains, especially when taking on new suppliers:

We have a comprehensive New Line process where we ask are asking searching questions not only about the products but also about the organisation and their mission, missions, vision and values. This rigorous appraisal of  We ask searching questions of our suppliers forms as part of our efforts in ensuring a clean value chain. We prioritise fairtrade product listings – precedence is given to products which originate from women only co-operatives.

Their long-standing business model proves ethical business is possible – but our global economic systems favour those with concentrated wealth and power:

Power over the global food system is being concentrated in a very small number of hands. Increasing digitisation is also working to consolidate that power further, by making it possible for companies to avoid transparency, automate transactions and influence consumer demand. Furthermore, agricultural workers are in real danger of being thrown off the land as robotic technology is being adopted in the developing world.

In the last few years, the economic environment has been increasingly tough for producers, although Mohammed Zafir is hopeful the situation will improve:

Covid, BREXIT and the war, combined, have  posed huge challenges on the availability of energy, logistics and commodities which has resulted in  continued huge pressure on the margins. As a direct result of which many good businesses were left unable to continue trading. We are starting to see some stability in the global markets and so are hopeful that we will continue to see easing of the pressure on the availability and thus the price of goods / services.

If you’re a fair trader, you can get great discounts at Premcrest on bulk buys – if you want to buy more consciously for your home needs – try Fairtrade Warehouse. Happy shopping.