Why Fair Trade Matters
We believe that everyone deserves to thrive in a sustainable community and we believe that businesses have an obligation to the workers who make their products. In fact, our CEO and Mightly Co-founder, Tierra Forte was part of the team that developed and launched the Fair Trade Apparel and Home Goods Pilot Program back in 2009. The Fair Trade model protects human rights, supports livelihoods for farmers, fishers, and workers, and fosters resilience in both communities and supply chains. To date, over $1 billion in financial benefits have gone to producer communities around the world. Naturally this is a movement we want to be a part of!
Fair Trade is a global movement uniting producers, companies, consumers, advocates, and organizations. Together, we are working towards the mission of eliminating poverty and enabling sustainable development worldwide. Fair Trade Certified factories adhere to rigorous social, environmental, and economic standards to ensure worker health and safety. This includes safe working conditions, no child or forced labor, elimination of harmful chemicals, guaranteed maternity leave and other important provisions that benefit garment workers.
For every Fair Trade Certified product sold, Mightly pays an additional Fair Trade Premium to the workers who make our clothes. Collectively, they vote on how to spend the funds on projects that address community needs, so that their families can thrive for generations to come.
In 2019, the Fair Trade Certified Factory Program facilitated sending $8M+ to over 100,000 factory workers. By increasing capital and decision-making mechanisms, the factory program enabled these workers to improve access to resources such as healthcare services, education programs, and groceries. For more information about Fair Trade visit Fair Trade USA and look for the label to support better working conditions for the people who make your clothes.
Rajlakshmi Cotton Mills
Mightly works with Rajlakshmi Cotton Mills. LLC in Kolkata India. In 2010, Rajlakshmi was the first factory in the world to achieve Fair Trade Certification under Fair Trade USA's new Fair Trade Standard for Apparel and Homes Goods. Rajlakshmi is a longstanding partner and supporter of Chetna Organic and buys 80% of Chenta’s organic cotton output. This partnership provides many additional benefits the Chetna farmers, including pre-harvest contracts, financing and support of community development projects in remote farming villages such as schools, vocational training centers, eco-centers, women's enterprises and revolving loan funds.
