Adding the word "ethical" to the name of our company was one of the hardest decisions we made when setting up Oxford Ethical Trading Limited. The word "ethical" and related phrases like "social responsibility" are banded about by many companies, often without merit or as a PR stunt, and they often don't live up to those claims. The decision whether or not to include the word "ethical" in our title wasn't hard because of fear of being held up to higher standards, though. It was hard because it is a word that shouldn't need to be in the title of a company at all. "Ethical" should be the default position for all companies. But of course it isn't, and we wanted our customers, our suppliers, and everyone else we come into contact with to know what they can expect from us from day one. So we put it in there for all to see.

Everybody has different notions of what ethical means to them, so here is what it means to us :

• A company isn't a separate entity, a being in it's own right. It is simply a group of people doing something. Those people all have responsibility for their actions as well as those of the group. "It's just business" isn't a phrase to hide behind.

• We want to make money, but not at the expense of others :
  • Our customers should receive a good, safe, valuable product in return for the money they pay.
  • Our suppliers should receive a fair, sustainable price for goods and services they supply.
  • Our customers and suppliers should be treated fairly and with respect.
  • The environment shouldn't suffer for our actions.
  • Our staff should be treated as human beings.

How do we acheive these aims? Simply by considering and measuring everything we do against the standards above. Below is our formal ethical policy. It covers the main topics, but cannot hope to cover every aspect of everything we do. If you have any questions about how we do business that are not answered, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Care for the environment

All of the food products we sell are certified as Organic by the Soil Association, which ensures compliance with a wide range of environmental standards (see www.soilassociation.org for more information). All other products we sell and items we purchase are individually assessed at the time of purchase with regards to their effect on the environment and the necessity of their purchase.

Our offices, processing facilities and equipment, computers and web servers are powered by 100% renewable electricity (currently tidal power). Waste heat generated by refrigeration units and web servers is used to partially heat our building.

We combine and plan our delivery routes to ensure maximum efficiency of our vehicles. We use common carriers (such as Royal Mail) where small deliveries would be carbon-inefficient using our own vehicles. We use public transport where possible for staff movements.

Carbon emissions that we cannot reduce are off-set by the planting of fruit trees in private residential gardens. These have the dual benefits of absorbing carbon from the atmosphere and also reducing the food-miles of fruit that would otherwise be bought in from supermarkets, farms and possibly other countries.

When purchasing equipment including computing equipment and processing equipment we :
- purchase items second-hand where practical to both prevent it going to land-fill and also to eliminate the material and energy used in producing a new item. The main exception is where new items have distinct power saving or other environmental benefits that out-weigh the environmental cost of its production
- evaluate items based on their energy usage and other environmental criteria, as well as the practical business considerations.
- re-use, sell or recycle old items where possible.

All business processes are evaluated when they are implemented and at least every year afterwards to ensure that they are as energy efficient, materially efficient and as environmentally friendly as possible.

All business waste is reduced where possible. Where not possible it is re-used - for instance all cardboard packaging received is re-used as packaging for out-going orders. Any organic waste, such as spoiled tea and coffee, is composted and used for the trees we plant to offset our carbon emissions. Where it is not possible to re-use items, we recycle them where facilities exist.

Responsible and Sustainable Trade

All of our products which fall under a product category included in the Fairtrade licensing scheme are Fairtrade licensed. Fairtrade promotes responsible, fair and sustainable trade with producers in the third world. (See www.fairtrade.org.uk for more info). Where private-label customers do not want the Fairtrade mark to appear on their packaging, the products will still come from our standard FLO supply chain with the same price paid to the producers.

For products and services beyond the scope of the Fairtrade scheme, we choose our suppliers based on their adherence to our ethical policies or similar policies. Where possible we favour smaller, independent suppliers. We attempt to form lasting relationships with suppliers, and if we are unhappy with the price, service, products or ethics of a supplier we will tell them and give them the opportunity (and where possible support) to correct those problems before leaving them for other suppliers. We will always pay a sustainable price for our products and will not ask suppliers to go below this.

Ethical Employment

We treat our employees like humans, not “resources”. The national minimum wage is not enough to be considered a living wage. We pay all of our employees a living wage as a minimum. All employees are paid the same wage (pro-rata for time worked) regardless of the position or job role they hold in the company. We meet and aim to exceed all legal requirements on working conditions, working time, discrimination and other factors affecting our staff. We aim to provide an environment that people are happy to work in and want to work in.

Equal Opportunities

We examine all of our working practises, hiring practices, policies, job roles and work places to ensure that they do not promote direct, indirect or institutional discrimination against any current or future employees, customers, suppliers or anyone else on the basis of disability, race, gender, sexuality, age or religion. With specific regard to religion, we believe that all of our staff have the right to hold their own religious views and beliefs. However where those views and beliefs contradict this ethical policy, particularly with regards to discrimination against others, they will not be tolerated. We hire employees solely on the basis of their aptitude for the job.

Social Responsibility

A company is a group of individuals performing work. We are each responsible for, and to, the community in which we live and work, and to those communities that are affected by the work we do. This set of ethical policies recognises this and its implementation forms our commitment to social responsibility.