Contents
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- 1 Profile of CONTIGO´s partner Craft Beauty
- 1.1 Supply chain
- 1.2 Products
- 1.3 Location
- 1.4 Founded in 2003
- 1.5 History
- 1.6 Cooperation with CONTIGO since 2010
- 1.7 Structure of the business
- 1.8 Sales
- 1.9 Goals
- 1.10 Special features
- 2 Fairtrade classification
- 3 Fairtrade aspects
- 3.1 No child labour
- 3.2 No discrimination
- 3.3 Fair wages
- 3.4 Humane working conditions
- 3.5 Transparency
- 4 Monitoring
- 5 Country information
- 6 Photos
Profile of CONTIGO´s partner Craft Beauty
Supply chain
Trading partner: Craft Beauty, medium enterprise
Function: Producer
Structure: Own production plant, affiliated production groups
Tradeway: Direct import CONTIGO
Products
Bags and accessories made of different fabrics
Location
Hanoi (district of Long Biên), Vietnam – distance to Europe: 8,600km
Founded in 2003
History
- Hoai Nguyen studies marketing and business administration and volunteers at a rural development organisation from the U.S. during her studies. Her task is to prepare local artisans and their products for the international market
- 2002: She changes from voluntary work to professional self-employment
- 2003: Hoai Nguyen and her husband Diep establish Craft Beauty to support local artisans to market their products: focus on silk accessories, bags and garments; participation in trade fairs and first exports, at that time only few employees for quality control and packaging
- 2004: Craft Beauty hires a sample maker in order to design own cuttings / patterns for workshops in rural areas: a small sewing workshop is set up in the private house of Hoai and Diep
- 2005-2009: Craft Beauty becomes member of Fairtrade Federation in the U.S.A. (membership ends, as from 2009 on only American Fairtrade companies are allowed to become members)
- 2006/2007: Purchase of a workshop building and construction of an own production site
- 2009: Craft Beauty moves to a bigger production building in the neighbourhood, the former workshop is still used as an accommodation house for commuters
- 2009-2017: Participation in international trade shows and establishment of an export customers base
- 2010: CONTIGO meets Craft Beauty for the first time, since then annual orders and continuous product development
- 2015: Cooperation with artisans of ethnical minorities in the provinces of Mai Chau and Nghe An
- 2017: Second designer is hired
- 2019: The CONTIGO e.V. finances the purchase of five modern sewing machines, which significantly improve the quality of their sewing work and increase productivity
- 2020: under Covid pandemic economy declined, orders cancelled and reduced, number of internal staff and external groups reduced, 35% less employees than 2019, but consistent work for indoor staff
Cooperation with CONTIGO since 2010
Structure of the business
Number of employees:
- 55 employees
- 31 employees in the central workshop in Hanoi
- 31 full-time, no part-time
- Production, processing, packing: 22
- Design, product development: 3
- Quality control: 4
- Administration, marketing, sales: 8
- 24 employees outside the central workshop, in the provinces of Ha Tay, Hung Yen, Hai Phong
- 31 employees in the central workshop in Hanoi
Organisation of workforce / work environment:
- Main tasks at Craft Beauty internal workshop:
- preparation of production (e.g. cutting of fabrics for external workshops)
- production (complex sewing tasks)
- quality control
- packaging
- administration, product development
- CEO Diep and production manager Oanh Hoang
- visit all production locations on a regular basis
- accompany closely every single production step
- train new staff
- enforce quality standards
- External producers
- Groups (mainly 3-5 people, biggest group counts 15 people) and individuals (housewives, who combine work with child care and farming). In 2020 focus on cooperation with individuals and housewives
- Due to the pandemic and less order volume most of the groups accept orders from local fashion shops, they do not work exclusively for Craft Beauty any more
- Tasks: sewing, printing, embroidery, crocheting
- Structure of small producer groups: 1 woman leads a group of 3-5 women, leader plans production steps, divides and allocates tasks, is responsible for quality (and therefore receives a bonus for good quality and meeting the delivery time)
- Equipment:
- bigger groups are fully equipped with cutting machines and sewing machines, they do not need prepared materials from Craft Beauty; they receive an advance payment in order to purchase the materials
- smaller groups and individuals receive prepared material packages, expensive equipment like sewing machines can be leased from Craft Beauty (will be billed with future orders)
- Weekly meetings with all employees (on Saturdays)
- Regular meetings with leaders of small producer groups
- Designs, salary, working conditions, business development, and productivity issues are discussed
- Bimonthly meetings with team about optimising work processes, successes, difficulties, and business outlook of the company
Sales
- Exports (75%) to the U.S.A., UK, Australia, the Netherlands, Canada, Germany, Italy
- Home market (25%)
Goals
- To increase education and job opportunities for women and minority groups
- To preserve and promote traditional crafts
- To increase income
- To establish new business relationships
- To create new product lines
Special features
- Focal point: creation of job opportunities for people with disadvantages and no school education
- Outsourcing of small sewing tasks to small producer groups to provide income opportunities for rural women
- Principle: work tasks should be arranged around child care
- Housing with sleeping spaces, fridge, etc. available for women with a long commute (can be used for free), house is also used for women from villages when they visit for further training
Why does CONTIGO work with Craft Beauty: Product development with Craft Beauty has been very easy and successful from the first collection onwards.
Fairtrade classification
FTA = Fairtrade Approved
Fairtrade aspects
Craft Beauty complies with the following Fairtrade Principles:
No child labour
No discrimination
No discrimination due to gender, disability, religion, ethnicity, sexual orientation, political orientation, or infection with HIV
- All women have the same opportunities, some women with disadvantages work in high positions.
Fair wages
- Minimum wage in Hanoi: 4.42 Mio Dong/month
- Wages at Craft Beauty: US$ 180-450/month, depending on responsibility
- In the central workshop:
- Office workers, manager, employees in the cutting and quality control receive fixed wage
- Employees in production receive piece-rate wage
- External employees receive piece-rate wage depending on orders and performance, piece rate is agreed on before order
- In the central workshop:
- Higher wages in case of overtime (100%)
- Bonuses are paid for high performances
- Annual wage adjustment, depending on the work performance and the rate of inflation, for example:
- 2012: wages were increased dramatically to match the inflation rate of 20%
- 2014-2016: bonus payments for best quality and compliance with completion deadline of orders
- 2020: under pandemic situation all staff forego the annual wage increase
Humane working conditions
Working hours:
- 8 hours/day
- 1 break (1 hour)
- 6 days/week ( 5 days/ week in 2020 due to less work)
Social benefits:
For the 31 employees who work in the central workshop in Hanoi:
- Paid holidays (10 national holidays + 12 annual leave holidays)
- Payment of contributions to „Social Insurances“, consisting of
- Pension fund
- Continued payment of wage in case of sickness, accident and maternity leave
- Accident insurance
- Employer pays 21,5% and employee 10,5% of monthly gross wage
For all 55 employees:
- Payment of contributions to health insurance (employer pays 3% and employee 1,5% of monthly wage)
- Free housing provided for women who can only go home during the weekend due to long commutes (currently 6 women use the accommodation)
- Financial support available in case of need
- Loans provided to employees for important purchases (house) or important family matters
- Loans provided to small working groups for tools, machines, and materials
- Sewing machines are handed out as long-term loans
- Workplace health promotion: offer of a free yoga course in-house once a week, especially for women who work at the sewing machines
Educational opportunities:
- Trainings in computer skills, management skills, design, fashion, Fairtrade and export
- Educating external producer groups in quality standards
- Vocational education of disadvantaged women as seamstresses
Transparency
- Work contracts are available
- Payroll is available
- Pay slips are available
- SAR (Self Assessment Report) was duly submitted to CONTIGO
Monitoring
- Personal visits in Hanoi (2010, 2012, 2014, 2015, 2018)
- Member of:
- WFTO (World Fair Trade Organization) since 2010
Country information
See Encyclopaedia Britannica: Vietnam
Photos
Visiting Craft Beauty in 2018
Visiting Craft Beauty in 2014
Visiting Craft Beauty in 2012
Visiting Craft Beauty in 2010