FAIR SQUARED, INC.
LAND O LAKES, FLORIDA

ABOUT FAIR SQUARED FAIR SQUARED takes fairness to be a two dimensional concept: high quality products and a transparent production process. FAIR SQUARED means that we pay a Fair Trade premium for ingredients we source in countries of the so called ‘developing world’ so that producers, plantation workers and small scale farmers and their families can improve their living and working conditions. FAIR SQUARED aims to deal fairly with everyone involved in the production of our products – humane working conditions, environmental and economic sustainability, no child labour and no animal testing. THE HISTORY OF THE COMPANY FAIR SQUARED is an alternative trade organisation, we aim to do our bit to reduce inequality in world trade. The Oxfam campaign “”Make poverty history”” in 2005 made us think: what can we do? Five years later the first FAIR SQUARED products were sold via OXFAM and Amnesty International. In the UK students and a number of organisations picked up the idea and made the products more widely available. Among our first products were condoms, hand creams and lip balms. Demand grew fast and distribution partners in Scandinavia and the Benelux countries started to sell FAIR SQUARED products too. In 2013 FAIR SQUARED moved to Cologne, Germany, and became FAIR SQUARED Ltd., production was moved to the nature park Eifel and Sarsted in northern Germany. Our range expanded from 12 to 80 products. Because of continuous demand we were able to increase the number of fairly traded ingredients we use: olive oil from Palestine, almond oil from Pakistan, shea butter from Burkina Faso and natural latex from India … we now source ingredients from more than 15 Fair Trade partners world wide. Today FAIR SQUARED products are available all over Europe. The world over there are over 1200 Fairtrade producer groups who are benefitting from Fairtrade. We would love to expand the FAIR SQUARED product range to 100 and use fairly traded ingredients like rose oil, mango, cucumber and cotton. With your support we’ll get there. WHO ARE FAIR SQUARED? FAIR SQUARED is a limited company registered in Cologne, Germany. The company is family owned with no other companies or investors directly or indirectly involved. Our headquarters and warehouse are located on 700 m² rented space in Cologne-Marsdorf. Additional warehouse capacity is available through logistics providers if and when needed. Our business principles are rooted in transparency, social and environmental acceptability, animal welfare and solidarity with those who are living in less priviledged parts of the world. We work with distribution partners in a number of countries who have exclusive rights to sell FAIR SQUARED products. All of these partners are family owned companies dealing in health foods, natural cosmetics or other ecologically sound products. FAIR SQUARED production partners are financially independent from FAIR SQUARED Ltd. We negotiate on an equal footing, we treat our partners with respect and communicate in an honest, fair manner. As a result we are able enter long term contracts which enhance more economic justice in international trade. We own the formulations for our products. Every six months FAIR SQUARED develops between five and eight new products which are launched in February and September of any given year. The FAIR SQUARED trademark has been registered in many countries world wide. According to the German non profit organisation ‘Forum Fairer Handel’ the FLO Fairtrade label is one of the strictest Fair Trade labels and also the most recognised one. Both, fairly traded produce and products produced with fairly traded ingredients can be Fairtrade labelled, there are Fairtrade coffee, bananas, cotton, cosmetics, jewellery and even gold. – every second consumer buys Fairtrade products The “vegan” label awarded by the international “Vegan Society” in Birmingham, UK, usually can be found on processed food, clothing and cleaning products but not on cosmetics. The label guarantees that the product does not contain any substances derived from animals. FAIR SQUARED products are certified by the British Vegan Society. Here are some of the society’s standards: Animal ingredients: The manufacture and/or development of the product, and where applicable its ingredients, must not involve, or have involved, the use of any animal product, by-product or derivative. Animal testing: The development and/or manufacture of the product, and where applicable its ingredients, must not involve, or have involved, testing of any sort on animals conducted at the initiative of the company or on its behalf, or by parties over whom the company has effective control. Genetically Modified Organisms: The development and/or production of genetically modified organisms (GMO) must not have involved animal genes or animal-derived substances. Products put forward for registration which contain or may contain any GMOs must be labelled as such. The European Vegetarian Union estimates that between 2% and 10% of Europeans are vegetarians. Most of them are women (the ratio of women to men is 4.3 to 1). The demand for animal free products has increased dramatically in the last few years. The trend continues in particular with younger people. According to a study by the market research company Mintel, in the age group of 16- to 24 year olds every 5th person buys vegetarian products. Vegetarians and vegans, who have chosen this life style for ethical reasons, look for cosmetics products that do not contain animal products and have not been tested on animals. It is therefore important that the whole supply and production chain is vegan. That includes animal free glue in packaging and tapes or avoiding the use of animals in the harvest of raw materials. For more information go to www.vegansociety.com The Fair Trade Labelling Organisation (FLO) has developed Fair Trade citeria for a lot of the products we use at FAIR SQUARED, but not all of them. One of these is natural latex or rubber. Natural latex is the product of the tropical tree “Hevea Brasiliensis”. The Fair Rubber Assossication was founded with the “aim (…) to contribute to an improvement of the working- and living conditions of the primary producers of natural latex (rubber), by applying the principles of Fair Trade to the trade in products made from natural rubber”. That’s what it says in the Fair Rubber constitution – but what does it actually mean?