After arriving in India and attempting to get over the jet lag, Day 3 brought something I had been particularly looking forward to: my very first business meeting with a fair trade supplier in India.
We were due to visit Aspirations International, and they kindly arranged to pick us up from our hotel and take us to their headquarters.
I didn’t quite know what to expect.
This was a completely new experience for me. Until then, fair trade had largely been something I understood through emails, catalogues, websites and conversations back home. But now I was actually in India, about to meet the people behind the products and, more importantly, the people connected to the artisans who made them.
A Very Warm Welcome
From the moment we arrived, everyone at Aspirations International was incredibly welcoming and accommodating, I felt rude to take a photo of them – which now I really regret now!
There always seemed to be an offer of chai — Indian tea — or a glass of water. After travelling halfway around the world and still feeling the effects of jet lag, their hospitality was certainly appreciated!
But what really amazed me was the effort they had gone to in preparation for our visit.
They had invited several artisans from different parts of northern India to come and meet us and show us their work. One artisan had apparently travelled 11 hours just to meet with Voyage Fair Trade and present his products to us.
That genuinely stayed with me.
Here I was, a relatively small independent business from the UK, and someone had travelled for almost half a day simply for the opportunity to show us what they had created.
It was one of those moments that made me realise that travelling to meet suppliers wasn’t just about flicking through catalogues and choosing products. Behind every item were real people, families, skills and livelihoods.
Thousands of Possibilities
The sheer number of products available was incredible.
There seemed to be almost endless possibilities — different materials, shapes, designs and styles. Some of the products were beautiful but perhaps a little too antique-looking or ornate for the style I was trying to create at Voyage.
Others, however, immediately caught my attention.
There were designs that felt much more contemporary, quirky and stylish — the sort of products I could imagine fitting perfectly into the Voyage Fair Trade range.
One thing the team kept telling me was:
“We can change it.”
If I liked a product but wanted different dimensions, they could change it.
If I wanted a different material, they could change it.
If I had ideas for adapting the design, they could explore that too.
They even told me that they could put the Voyage logo onto products.
For someone who was relatively new to the world of importing and working directly with overseas suppliers, this was fascinating. It opened my eyes to the possibilities of not simply choosing products from a catalogue, but potentially working with artisans and suppliers to develop something more unique.
Suddenly, the world of fair trade felt much bigger.
Meeting the Family Behind the Products
After spending time talking with the staff and artisans, looking through products and taking plenty of photographs, we were introduced to the founder of Aspiration International, Padam.
At the time, Padam was 84 years old.
Despite his age, he was clearly passionate about his work and incredibly welcoming. After our meeting, he kindly invited us to his home for dinner with his family. I also met his sons, but only have 1 photo of them.
It was such a lovely end to the day.
We enjoyed a fantastic meal together, surrounded by people who were warm, friendly and genuinely interested in getting to know us.
Looking back, I think this was one of the things that struck me most about travelling around India and meeting fair trade organisations.
Yes, we were there to discuss business.
Yes, we were looking at products and talking about potential orders.
But it never felt like just business.
There was something much more personal about it.
We were welcomed into workplaces, introduced to artisans and, in this case, even invited into someone’s home to share a meal with their family.
More Than Just Buying Products
By the end of Day 3, despite still feeling rather jet-lagged, I was beginning to understand something important about the journey I was on.
Fair trade isn’t simply about finding products that look good on a shelf.
It is about relationships.
It’s about understanding where things come from, meeting the people involved and appreciating the incredible skills behind handmade products.
This was only my third day in India, but already the trip was changing the way I thought about the products we sold at Voyage Fair Trade.
And, as it turned out, there were still many more artisans, organisations, factories, workshops and incredible people waiting for us over the coming days…
The adventure was only just beginning. Or you can read about the fun time we have in India Day 2: Surviving the Holi Festival in Delhi