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Background
Shea Butter Market was founded on the belief that business
could produce meaningful value for people, communities,
shareholders and a broad range of stakeholders, and
do so in a way that respects mother earth and the fragile
ecosphere that we all live in. This is a bold goal
and one that the founders work towards achieving. They
realize that to achieve this goal they need to set
out specific tasks and activities, monitor progress
towards them and learn from their experience and that
of others. They welcome advice on how to do things
better as they realize that they will not perform perfectly.
Actions
There are specific principles that guide and direct
the activities that they've undertaken so far to support
progress towards their goal of a business that does
good by doing good. These are: |
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Fair Trade - from the onset
Shea Butter Market and its predecessor SheaCare have
paid a fair, above market price to the Shea Butter producers,
the Tapko Widow's Group. Shea Butter Market is in the
process of applying for Fair Trade certification
Giving Back - Shea Butter Market has decided
to donate 2% of net profits back to the Tapko Widow's
Group. They have also pledged to work with their distribution
and marketing channels to find other opportunities
to support the Widow's group and other women in northern
Ghana. Shea Butter Market will report annually on what
is achieved in this area.
Respecting Mother Earth - Our planet has been
blessed with an amazing biosphere that supports all
of the life forms on this earth. This biosphere is
delicate and mankind has been treading on it with increasingly
destructive steps. Every day we go to bed with the
biosphere a little less able to support life on earth
than it was when we woke up. This is scary, very scary.
Shea Butter Market is trying to do what it can to minimize
our impact on the planet and will continually strive
to do more. Our packaging is made of the highest grade
of recyclable materials and we are looking at innovative
ways to reduce the overall ratio of packaging to product.
In our personal and business life we reduce, reuse
and recycle as much as we know how and are regularly
challenged to do more. The lands where our office sits
are pesticide free and we are letting the stream that
flows through our property go back to natural vegetation.
We try to use eco-friendly cleaning products and other
such items in our daily lives. Of course, we still
have a long way to go, but we have started on a journey
that we sincerely hope all of human kind will join
us on.
Family and Community - In everything that we
do we try to respect family and community. This means
that if you drop by our office you may find Kabore,
Gifty's four year old son, doing a puzzle on the floor
or you may find one of our team off volunteering in
the local community or out participating in the building
of local and international communities.
Profitability - As a business, if we do not
make profits we could not do any of the things mentioned.
Over time, we simply could not continue to exist. Profits
and financial sustainability are just one dimension
of the triple bottom line and must be respected and
pursued just the same as the social and environmental
dimensions.
All of us at Shea Butter Market want to thank anyone
who has read to this point. We invite your feedback
and advice (email it to info@sheabuttermarket.com)
and hope that in your own lives you are able to actualize
a triple bottom line approach. |
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