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

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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.

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KEY ACHIEVEMENTS

  • 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

  • 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

  • 1993

    Sesame Seed Oil

    1993

    Sesame Seed Oil

    We sourced our first Community Fair Trade ingredient – sesame seed oil

  • 1994

    Shea Butter

    1994

    Shea Butter

    Anita discovered shea butter from Tamale, northern Ghana

  • 1999

    Cotton

    1999

    Cotton

    We sourced organic cotton Moisturising Gloves and Socks from Mauritius

  • 2007

    Supply Chain Award

    2007

    Supply Chain Award

    We were awarded ‘The Big Tick’ Business In The Community Supply Chain Award

  • 2008

    Alcohol

    2008

    Alcohol

    We were the first to use fair trade organic alcohol in cosmetics

  • 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

  • 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

  • 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