Walk into the World of Good office cum warehouse in Berkeley, California, and the first thing that meets the eye is a burst of colour. Row upon row of tall shelves overflow with handcrafted bags, scarves, jewellery of every shape, size and origin. We have over 800 unique gifts and accessories sourced from over 30 developing countries, says Priya Haji, CEO of World of Good. Her pride is well justified given that barely two years ago, all she and partner Siddharth Sanghvi started with was an idea.
The daughter of immigrant parents, Priya grew up in Texas with experience in establishing social enterprises from as early as her high school days. Born and brought up in Mumbai, Siddharth moved to the US in pursuit of a more accommodative system of education. The two met up at the Hass School of Business and the rest, as they say, is history.
After completing my MBA, I decided to take a year off to travel. During this time, I closely interacted with several artisan groups in Asia and South America and I knew that theirs was a cause we were meant to take up, says Priya. While fair trade has increasingly gained momentum in the US, much of the buzz has been around the commodities sector, a conventionally male dominated industry. Instead, we decided to enter the handcrafts sector, which offered employment to artisans who are primarily women, elaborates Siddharth.Starting with a modest $10,000 drawn directly from their personal savings, the two set up World of Good Inc. in February 2004. While Siddharth handled all marketing, technology and branding aspects, Priya drove sales and worked on expanding their network of both clients and advisers. Though neither came with a prior retail experience, their store-within-store kiosks were an overnight success.
There is a fast growing base of responsive consumerism in the US and we wanted to address this very market, says Priya. Gaining visibility through large natural food retailers, yoga centres and spas, World of Good is fast expanding its footprint with over 120 kiosks across Northern California even as it enters other states.
Their decision to set up and actively grow a non-profit reaffirms their belief in the fair trade movement. As Siddharth says, Though both organisations run independently and push different levers, they work towards the common goal of mainstreaming the fair trade movement. While the profit division helps generate fair and sustained employment for thousands of artisans the world over, the non-profit is given 10 per cent of its profits, which is then reinvested into socio-economic development projects in artisan communities.
India, of course is one of the primary source points for the crafts marketed by World of Good. India has a strong history of handcraft production. There has been tremendous investment into developing these crafts by both the government as well as NGOs. Such attention is yet to be seen in several developing countries, comments Priya, who while extremely impressed by the development in the sector, is amused that the biggest challenge in sourcing from India lies in the overall richness of the crafts themselves. She says, The rich local culture is directly reflected in the crafts that come from India. While the elaborate nature of the products is welcomed and accepted within the country, it is a little too multi-elemental for the Western audience.
The organisation often encourages artisans to create simpler patterns, which directly increases their productivity and therefore profitability. World of Good currently works with over 12 Indian handicraft organisations who in turn generate employment for several artisan groups across the country. The positive influence and promise that this organisation holds is evident in the numerous national and international awards it has received. Social responsibility should be a part of our core values. We have done something in one small sector. There are several avenues, which hold a similar if not bigger opportunity, just waiting to be explored, concludes Priya.
This article can also be found at: Deccan Chronicle Online