Once upon a time - in Feb 1998 - a little craft business with a big idea joined a little known movement with a big vision ... and that's how Motif, the little business, began in Fair Trade.

Fast forward 14yrs and Motif has certainly grown, but nothing like the Fair Trade movement's stellar growth. So what was it like a few decades ago? What's different now? ... Many responses cry to be shared but the main one affecting Motif these days is 'accreditation'.

Behind the scenes

In those early BC (Before Computer!) days almost every fair trade producer and buyer around the globe knew each other at least by name. Long-term relationships built on face-to-face meetings were the norm and our mainstay. As internet use has exploded so has the Fairtrade movement and myriad opportunities are now open for many disadvantaged artisans to benefit.

Our Fair Trade credentials however can no longer be just word of mouth - so we're proud to announce that Motif's international accreditation process with WFTO-Asia has begun ... and I thought you'd like to see behind the scenes as we go through it.

Earlier this week, after months of preparation, our 20 page application form and 27 additional documents were submitted to the WFTO Asia HQ in The Phillipines - phew! (Thank you dropbox) This gives an idea of how stringent the assessment process is.

Now we wait until all those papers are scrutinised and hopefully we're granted an assessment visit. This will take 1 - 3 days. Will I be there in Dhaka when it happens? Yes, if it's in Jan/Feb '12 :)

We'll let you know more when we do ... so watch this space for a peek into the deeper fair trade world!