Ethical retailer of the week: Lanka Kade

Lanka Kade is a Sri Lanka-based business that produces multicultural and fairtrade toys and gifts for children responsibly made by local communities with recycled materials.

Lanka Kade – which means the Sri Lankan shop – was founded in 1994 by couple Upul and Diane and aims to trade products manufactured by small businesses in Sri Lanka.

Despite now being based in the UK, the founders have continued sourcing their products from communities based in the Asian country.

The company specialises in a series of educational toys and gifts for young kids, which are handmade by seven family-run factories. The firm explains, “Our aim is to provide continual employment throughout the year for each supplier, their families and their employees.”

Products available include board games, blocks and bricks, alphabet letters, dolls, jigsaws, wood items, play animals, magnets and many more.

The company pays families a fair and full price for the toys they produce and even assists some of them with long-term interest-free loans to help improve their business.

Lanka Kade is certified fairtrade and part of the British Association of Fair Trade Shops (BAFTS) since 2001 and ensures that minors are not involved in any stage of the production process.

The company also keeps an eye on the environment, using rubber wood sourced from exhausted rubber plantations that are replanted every decade for its goods.

Package is kept to a minimum, is PVC-free and is recycled.

www.lankakade.co.uk

Further reading:

Ethical retailer of the week: Qui Teas

Ethical retailer of the week: Quagga

Ethical retailer of the week: Meridian Foods

Ethical retailer of the week: U- Konserve

Ethical retailer of the week: Ethical Pets