Craftsmanship Emerges as Big Trend from Source Home & Gift
Source Home & Gift, the responsible sourcing show that took place between Feb. 4 to 7, proved to be a crowdpleaser once again for its third edition where manufacturers and brands of homewares, furniture, gifts, toys, textiles, packaging, stationery and greetings came together to showcase their offerings.
More than 400 manufacturers joined the fair—putting on display their craft from markets such as Senegal, Ghana and Nepal, as well as suppliers from over 25 countries including Bangladesh, China, Egypt, Hong Kong, India, Pakistan, Philippines, South Africa, U.K. and U.S.
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Retailers from around the country attended the show, from Fenwick, Next, Waitrose, John Lewis, Laura Ashley, Liverpool FC, House of Marbles and more.
Suzanne Ellingham, director of sourcing at Source Home & Gift, took to the stage with Louisa Mordaunt, founder of I Love My Job and Sarah Jordan, founder of Y.O.U Underwear to discuss the importance of building a B Corp business in this day and age.
“One of the reasons we wanted to talk about B Corp is that it gives businesses the framework to look at their business holistically so they can recognize the good they already do and work to grow sustainably, but also it really doubles down on measurements,” she said.
“When you measure something, you create a benchmark, then you create meaningful improvement to make sure that you are always moving forward. Importantly, once you are going through that process, you can see what good looks like in terms of the performance of other businesses going through the process,” added Ellingham.
B Corp gives businesses a barometer of where they sit on the sustainability scales, as well as guiding them to understand their own green footprint.
Jordan’s business has its B Corp status, and she believes it will better guide the brand as it gradually grows.
“We are seeing clients coming in saying they only want to work for B Corp organizations—the demand is there, and they are dictating it,” said Mordaunt, who has been running her recruitment company for more than 10 years.
The chatters that took place around the fair’s boxes came to life on the retail stage, where insight and wisdom were shared by veterans and newcomers.
“How to source in new regions, a beginner’s guide” was hosted by Retail 100’s co-founders Anna Berry, Neil Amer, Sara Allbright and Elaine Hooper to advise the best practices for businesses trying to break into new markets.
Allbright advised new businesses to take into account the basics such as ordering units and where they will be stocked; how ordering a product will differentiate a business in their local market and the importance for all businesses to plan for the future accordingly especially when it comes to ordering for busy periods such as Christmas.
“It’s very important not to be as reliant as we used to be on our far shore sourcing opportunities, and the days of sourcing completely everything from China is just not appropriate anymore because you need that flexibility,” said Hooper.
“If everything you have is coming from China, or another fast source, that can [cause] production problems and historically there was the Covid-19 issue, [whereas] now with wars and blocked sourcing channels, you can’t just be relying on one source,” she added.
Hooper concluded that it’s now more important than ever before, especially in a competitive market, for brands to have a water-tight brief when working with manufacturers and suppliers.
“There is a genuine need to connect good manufacturers to people that want to do good business. There are lots of businesses that do amazing things…but there’s a real lack of clarity and trust in terms of who those good people are to work with,” said Ellingham, who is very firm on showcasing the creativity of artisans at the fair.
Christoff Fivaz, founder of Gingham Ceramics, a South-African manufacturer that produces handmade ceramics, brought with him new collections that were specifically catered to the U.K. market.
“There is a lot of variety here and I think there’s a lot of scope for us producing handmade ceramics to do well here. We’ve met visitors from all over the U.K. already and I feel positive that this will be a great show for us,” he said.
Aarushi Mittal, the founder of textile brand Parali by Aarushi, came to Source Home & Gift to spread the message of community. Her mission is to stop the burning of rice straws and instead use them to make products from them.
She graduated from University of the Arts London with an MA in fiber, textile and weaving arts, and then set up her brand at the end of 2022 from Haryana, India after extensively researching the project for her MA.
Mittal wants to stop the century-long tradition of burning rice straws once farmers are done with it.
Parali by Aarushi now produces textiles and home decor out of the empty rice straws. Everything in her offering is 100 percent biodegradable, compostable and are all made by hand.
“I give training to rural women who have never worked in their life,” said Mittal, who herself is based out of Panipat, the biggest recycling textile hub in India.
“The European and U.K. is a big market for me because I’ve built a reputation for my brand for its craft and they also value handmade craft,” she added.
