Is Black Friday a Good Time to Support Fair Trade Brands?

Let's get into the very basics about Black Friday and small fair trade brands like Huaywasi!

With all the controversies surrounding Black Friday, we sometimes wonder if it is good to buy from a fair trade brand on these dates. 

Is it a good moment? Are these discounts fair? Should I wait for another date?

All these questions are valid. The truth is that Black Friday is a date for consumerism, and sometimes our impact can be harmful if we do not think about what we invest our money in.

However, this day is as good as any to support a fair trade brand since they measure the impact of their discounts, and these won't affect the salary received by their artisans and workers.

For example, at Huaywasi we have launched a campaign this Black Friday with discounts of up to 40%. Our artisans, however, will not see this discount reflected, or any other, in the salary received for their work. That's what fair trade is all about!

Competing with big brands' promotions and marketing campaigns is a challenge that many fair trade businesses cannot face. However, we have a lot of supporters who help us keep the business going and who buy our products these holidays and many other days.

For example, thanks to your support, and despite the harsh crisis we have faced during 2020, this 2021, we have managed to start working with all of our artisan partners again. And although production is still limited, they are all receiving a monthly income again, which is excellent. 

Of course, this won't be possible if you only buy Huaywasi on Black Friday, and this is why we encourage you to continue supporting our brand and any other fair-trade business throughout the year. 

On the other hand, if you rather not make any purchases during this Black Friday, here are some other ways to support your favorite fair-trade brands:

1. Make sure you follow them on social media. If you haven’t followed them yet this is a great time to go and like their page. Social media is a big part -or even all of their- marketing strategy and by giving them a like you are already impacting their growth.
2. Share their content and interact with their posts; this will feed Instagram and Facebook algorithms and help them grow. Sometimes liking a post is not enough, so share, comment and interact with your favorite brands! This will let them know that you care, they will love to hear from you, but also, this will help them to be more visible to others. 
3. Subscribe to their newsletter to make sure you won't miss any of their big campaigns. This is a great way to be aware of their events, discounts, news, and anything else. In the case of Huaywasi, by subscribing to our newsletter we’ll also send you news about the social impact we have in our community.
4. Recommend the brand to others; big elaborated marketing campaigns are great, but word of mouth is still a good way to promote a product or a brand. Introduce the brand to your friends and family, surprise them with a fair trade gift this Christmas, take them to their shops!

Everything counts!