Frugi
A little history...
Back in 2003 Lucy and Kurt Jewson had a baby boy. Being environmentally conscious folk, they decided to put him in nice eco-friendly cloth nappies. Tom was a very happy little chap, in his big cloth nappies, but there was a slight hitch....nearly all his baby clothes were too small to fit over his big bottom!
Lucy and Kurt did a little research and soon discovered that there was a gap in the market. So, they decided to set up their own company specialising in organic baby clothes that were designed to fit cloth nappies.
Since then, Lucy and Kurt's company has grown and grown...Frugi now has one of the largest selections of organic children's clothing in the UK, and hundreds of stockists all across the planet!
Lucy and Kurt did a little research and soon discovered that there was a gap in the market. So, they decided to set up their own company specialising in organic baby clothes that were designed to fit cloth nappies.
Since then, Lucy and Kurt's company has grown and grown...Frugi now has one of the largest selections of organic children's clothing in the UK, and hundreds of stockists all across the planet!
Why Frugi use organic cotton...
We're a little bit in love with organic cotton...we just can't get enough of it! Here's why:
It's much better for you and your little ones
Organic cotton is softer, more breathables and much less likely to trigger allergies and eczema since there are no harmful chemicals against your baby's skin.
It means that farmers and their families have a happier life
Organic cotton farmers don't have to work with poisonous pesticides, and they get a much better price for their crop.
It gives our lovely planet a well deserved break
There are no yucky chemicals involved in growing organic cotton, which is good news for the surrounding eco-system, and it doesn't use nearly as much water as growing conventional or GM cotton (in fact our farmers can pretty much rely on rainfall!)
It's much better for you and your little ones
Organic cotton is softer, more breathables and much less likely to trigger allergies and eczema since there are no harmful chemicals against your baby's skin.
It means that farmers and their families have a happier life
Organic cotton farmers don't have to work with poisonous pesticides, and they get a much better price for their crop.
It gives our lovely planet a well deserved break
There are no yucky chemicals involved in growing organic cotton, which is good news for the surrounding eco-system, and it doesn't use nearly as much water as growing conventional or GM cotton (in fact our farmers can pretty much rely on rainfall!)
Certification...
Frugi support the ideals behind the Global Organic Textile Standard by gaining certification as a brand. It is important that we, as a much respected, innovative and a leading brand in the world of organic children’s clothing, provide this backing to the control system. We believe very strongly that the ethics behind the standard offer the best fit for our farmers, our factories and their workers and of course our customers around the world.
Looking after our cotton farmers
When we're looking for new suppliers we also look very, very carefully at where the cotton comes from and how it is processed because it's so important for us to make sure we look after everybody involved. In places like India this means that the farmers receive a fair trade premium price as well as a higher price for being organic from us. The cotton gets processed by FLO-Cert registered suppliers too before reaching its final destination at the factories ready to be turned into beautiful Frugi garments!
Making sure people work in a happy factory
It's really important to us that all the people involved with making our clothes have happy working conditions and are treated fairly. We've found that the best way for us to make sure of this is by referencing the criteria of the Social Accountability 8000 standard.
When we're choosing new suppliers, we ask that their factories have this SA8000 certification - it goes even further than the social standards laid down in GOTS. For example, our manufacturers supply all their workers AND their families with health insurance, a life-line in a country with no NHS.
Looking after our cotton farmers
When we're looking for new suppliers we also look very, very carefully at where the cotton comes from and how it is processed because it's so important for us to make sure we look after everybody involved. In places like India this means that the farmers receive a fair trade premium price as well as a higher price for being organic from us. The cotton gets processed by FLO-Cert registered suppliers too before reaching its final destination at the factories ready to be turned into beautiful Frugi garments!
Making sure people work in a happy factory
It's really important to us that all the people involved with making our clothes have happy working conditions and are treated fairly. We've found that the best way for us to make sure of this is by referencing the criteria of the Social Accountability 8000 standard.
When we're choosing new suppliers, we ask that their factories have this SA8000 certification - it goes even further than the social standards laid down in GOTS. For example, our manufacturers supply all their workers AND their families with health insurance, a life-line in a country with no NHS.
Who makes Frugi's clothes...
Our Fab Designers
Lots and lots of lovely people are involved with creating our scrumptious organic clothes. It starts here in Cornwall, with Jeni, Katy and Kayleigh working busily to produce all the designs, doing lots of drawings and colouring in! Then they bundle all their hard work up into files that they send to the factories.
Our clothes are made in a few different factories in India, Turkey and Portugal. The design team usually head over to see our manufacturers to talk them through the new collections once the designs are done and dusted. They all work together like busy little buzzy bees, making sure that everything is ok with the designs and that everyone understands what's what.
Frugi Farmers
All our clothes are made from organic cotton, grown by our 'Frugi' farmers. In India, these farmers come from a number of rural villages and form part of a great big co-operative. It's a really great thing, and the farmers get a much better price for their fairly traded organic cotton. And of course, the fact that they aren't using nasty pesticides is way better for them and their families - no risk of yucky chemicals being washed into their hut or sprayed over their own food crops :)
The Factory Folk
Once the cotton has been carefully hand picked by the farmers it gets sent to the mill where it gets turned from big fluffy cotton bols into usable cotton yarn, and into fabric that can be used to make the very delicious clothes that we all love so much ;)
All the people who work in Frugi factories are over 19 years old, and they all receive a fair, fixed salary for their hard work and work decent hours. There are now over 500 employees in the factory that we've worked with since we started. That's amazing!! That's a lot of great jobs that have been created. Yippee!
Lots and lots of lovely people are involved with creating our scrumptious organic clothes. It starts here in Cornwall, with Jeni, Katy and Kayleigh working busily to produce all the designs, doing lots of drawings and colouring in! Then they bundle all their hard work up into files that they send to the factories.
Our clothes are made in a few different factories in India, Turkey and Portugal. The design team usually head over to see our manufacturers to talk them through the new collections once the designs are done and dusted. They all work together like busy little buzzy bees, making sure that everything is ok with the designs and that everyone understands what's what.
Frugi Farmers
All our clothes are made from organic cotton, grown by our 'Frugi' farmers. In India, these farmers come from a number of rural villages and form part of a great big co-operative. It's a really great thing, and the farmers get a much better price for their fairly traded organic cotton. And of course, the fact that they aren't using nasty pesticides is way better for them and their families - no risk of yucky chemicals being washed into their hut or sprayed over their own food crops :)
The Factory Folk
Once the cotton has been carefully hand picked by the farmers it gets sent to the mill where it gets turned from big fluffy cotton bols into usable cotton yarn, and into fabric that can be used to make the very delicious clothes that we all love so much ;)
All the people who work in Frugi factories are over 19 years old, and they all receive a fair, fixed salary for their hard work and work decent hours. There are now over 500 employees in the factory that we've worked with since we started. That's amazing!! That's a lot of great jobs that have been created. Yippee!
Charity Support...
This is a fab scheme that means we've committed to donating 1% of our turnover to three environmental charities. And we give that 1% of our turnover regardless of whether or not we've made a profit!
Packaging...
All our clothes are packaged in fully compostable non-GM potato starch bags, and we send them to you in compostable potato sacks too...you can quite literally put all the bits of packaging from a Frugi parcel on a compost heap and let it rot away!! How amazing is that?!
And....we're always on the lookout for different options, trying to learn as much as we can about how 'green' all the different ways of packaging are, which means that the minute we find an even better way to bundle all our clothes up, we can use it!
And....we're always on the lookout for different options, trying to learn as much as we can about how 'green' all the different ways of packaging are, which means that the minute we find an even better way to bundle all our clothes up, we can use it!
Nabvharat Orphanage
Every so often we have a sample sale, and give lots of the money we raise to acharity. Over the last year we’ve donated over £4,500 to an orphanage in India. The money has mainly been spent on education, but some has also been put towards new cots, play equipment etc.
Some of the team have been out to meet the children and to see what a difference our support is making. The children were really excited to meet us, and loved all the pressies we took for them (lots of colouring in books and games and stuff!) and they really, really enjoyed seeing themselves in the camera and taking pictures of each other!
There are about 60 children in total living at the orphanage, and they're nearly all going to school (apart from the babies and toddlers of course!). They told us all about their school - luckily for us they all spoke a bit of English - and what they learn there. And we spoke to some of the older children about the college they go to (a couple of them are studying computer science) and how they help out looking after the smaller children during holidays.
It's such a fab place, right by the sea, and they're all so well looked after! We really loved meeting the children and seeing where our money was being spent - we got a very nice warm fuzzy feeling!!
Some of the team have been out to meet the children and to see what a difference our support is making. The children were really excited to meet us, and loved all the pressies we took for them (lots of colouring in books and games and stuff!) and they really, really enjoyed seeing themselves in the camera and taking pictures of each other!
There are about 60 children in total living at the orphanage, and they're nearly all going to school (apart from the babies and toddlers of course!). They told us all about their school - luckily for us they all spoke a bit of English - and what they learn there. And we spoke to some of the older children about the college they go to (a couple of them are studying computer science) and how they help out looking after the smaller children during holidays.
It's such a fab place, right by the sea, and they're all so well looked after! We really loved meeting the children and seeing where our money was being spent - we got a very nice warm fuzzy feeling!!