Category Archives: Our customer’s news

Organic Aprons with our Customers Printed Logos

Organic stuff, Our customer's news

Today we have been working on organic aprons for the Body Shop. We won the order through their agent (Karen Higgins Projects), organic aprons printed with some beautiful designs.  There is an almond on some, passion fruit on another and hemp in another.  We think the result is beautiful.  Our organic  fabric (twill) is made in India and is also certified by Oeko-Tex. The actual organic aprons are made here in the UK especially for us.  It took us quite a while to find a supplier, research, trial and error (some shrunk) until we found the perfect fabric for the organic apron range we now have.

Organic aprons showing the printed Body Shop design

We have just introduced organic children’s aprons. It will be interesting to see how much interest they generate.  With so many of our competitors deciding to reduce the range of Fairtrade and organic they supply we are doing the opposite.  I could think of this as adventurous, foolish, wise swimming against the tide.  However I still believe that there are people who want these products.  Products that look toward our future, trying not to damage the land and giving a fair wage to the cotton farmers.

We are in a recession and it it hitting us hard.  But when I remember the villagers I met in India who grow our cotton…………I think we are so lucky and it makes me determined to keep going.  They had so very  little but gave us such a warm, excited welcome.  proud of their organic cotton.  I hope the Body Shop are as excited with their delivery of organic aprons from us.

Fairtrade & Organic Aprons Supplied to Dorset Cereals

Fairtrade Clothing, Food Industry, Organic stuff, Organisations Wearing Fairtrade, Uncategorized

I recently looked at the Dorset cereals website. We supplied them with aprons which they need for prizes for a competition a while ago.  The aprons were a lovely chocolate brown and were both organic and Fairtrade certified aprons.

Well Dorset Cereals have a lovely website and a great competition to win a camper van which is fun and a little/very addictive 🙂  Have a go at http://www.dorsetcereals.co.uk/

City Eco Hotel – Shortlisted for Award

Our customer's news

The City Eco Hotel  “The Green House” in Bournemouth has been up and running for a year now.  A trail blazing hotel – The “Green House”   has been shortlisted for the Edie’s Awards for Environmental Excellence which celebrates the year’s most successful green innovators and environmental breakthroughs.

Restaurant-and-Bar City Eco Hotel

The 4 star hotel has used our organic polo shirts and organic aprons for their restaurant and bar staff.  Their commitment to ethical sourcing and offering a top class hotel means the hotel is successfully going from strength to strengths.  Congratulations to the director Sarah Burrows!

University of Portsmouth Fairtrade Status and Cafe Direct

Food Industry, Organisations Wearing Fairtrade

The university of Portsmouth are a Fairtrade University and we were pleased to supply them with aprons and polo shirts made with Fairtrade certified cotton all embroidered with their logo.

The university is supported by Cafe Direct so we also needed to add their logo which in bright orange was very effective.

Our range expands and interest grows exciting times at Cotton Roots!

Christian Aid

Charities, Organisations Wearing Fairtrade
Christian Aid

Another new customer to be proud of.  We have been working with Christian Aid and supplied them with Fairtrade cotton hoodies and Fairtrade and organic T shirts.

  All in bright red.

If you click on their logo above and look at their web site you will see all the wonderful work that they do.

The great thing about the organisations we work with, they may have different faiths, or live with slightly different approaches, but they all strive to care for others and our planet.  I have also found another reason to love building this business……..the customers are a pleasure to deal with.  They are interested, patient and warm.  Oh happy days.

Wearing our Fairtrade & organic polo shirt

Here we have a Christian Aid worker wearing one of the polo shirts which we have embroidered with their logo.

Salvation Army New Customer

Charities, Susan's Musings
Salvation Army Fairtrade T shirts

More great news. It just seems to keep coming at the moment!  Lisa has been working away with the Salvation Army on a project they have and they placed their order yesterday.  We are supplying them with Fairtrade cotton t shirts and I am really pleased, of course,  that they decided to use Cotton Roots.

Offering Fairtrade garments is a niche business but one I find really fascinating and fulfilling.  The Salvation Army are a growing band of new customers from the charity sector that are keen to use ethically sourced clothing.  On a personal note my grandmother Maud Smith who ran the public houses “The Lion” and “The Royal Oak” in Abertillery from around 1925 – 1965 would have been pleased.  The Salvation Army often came to the pubs and she made them very welcome.  It was tough times for the miners and their families in the valleys of South Wales and the Salvation Army did lots of supportive work.  So my Grandmother, although  a publican, really respected them and especially asked for them at her own funeral, a fitting tribute of mutual respect.  She was a business woman, family woman, strong woman and I think she would have been proud of us supplying the Salvation Army – so it gives me an added thrill.  Fairtrade T shirts, my Gran, and the Sally Army, a good combination.

Our Customer – English National Opera – Idomeneo

Music Industry
Idomeneo the Opera

English National Opera – Idomeneo by Mozart

We have a new customer and that excites me.  Their clothing could not be Fairtrade due to their very specific requirements which is a shame – but it’s just not possible yet.

The English National Opera are performing “Idomeneo” at London Coliseum and we are supplying the costumes. A new one for us – costumes.  It is a very contemporary opera so the performers will be wearing suits, shirts, and blouses which we have supplied.  I have had very little involvement in this order Jenny has worked hard sending samples, and exchanging goods until the opera company was happy with everything.

I am excited about this. I have never been to the opera and I feel a trip to the Coliseum coming on for all of us at Cotton Roots.  I am hoping to get some photographs from the trip and will post them on our blog!  We are of course still using manufacturers who ethically make our garments.

So if you go along to “Idomeneo” in the summer look out for our uniforms. We will be there!

This link will let you listen to osme of the music and an interview with the conductor. Take a look.

City Eco Hotel – Naturally Dyed Uniforms

Hotel Industry, Natural Dyeing & Customers, Organisations Wearing Fairtrade
Fairtrade organic aprons embroidered

The grand open of the new, swish, really, really green, City Eco Hotel takes place on Friday 9th of April in Bournemouth.

We have supplied the hotel with  their catering staff aprons which are not only organic, made with fairtrade cotton, but also dyed organically using plants.  The shipment from India arrived today so we are burning the midnight oil to embroider  the aprons with “The green room” or  The green house”  and make sure we deliver them on time.

Burning the midnight oil is part of running a company and the enjoyment comes when customers are pleased with us and the garments.

We opened the parcels excitedly – as this was the first batch of aprons that we have made especially for our customers – City Eco Hotel and the Eden Project.  It was a nervous few days as the aprons were “Stuck in customs”.  “Stuck in customs” is a phrase that always gives me the collywobbles. It could mean weeks waiting………. I was worried.  But lots of phone calls later and helpful assistance and they were “unstuck” and arrived today.  Hooray!

The hotel staff will also be wearing Fairtrade polo shirts which are unbleached.  This means that the colour is a beautiful oatmeal hue.  We have embroidered the polo shirts with the hotel emblem, a leaf.   They polo shirts are organic and very soft to touch – so of course scrummy to wear.

I am excited and proud that the director of the hotel Sarah Burrows decided to use our uniforms.  We are trying to expand Fairtrade and organic options for customers all the time.  Their hotel motto is “Luxury doesn’t have to cost the earth”. I like it.

So look out for the hotel  if you stay in Bournemouth www.cityecohotel.com.

MUST get back work embroidering their aprons…….off I go.

Embroidery machine showing “The Green Room” embroidery

Solstice – The band

Music Industry, Organisations Wearing Fairtrade
The Band

The wonderful band Solstice performed at The Pitz in Milton Keynes on Saturday.  They have reformed after many years of branching out individually as musicians.  I had seen a DVD of them performing at the Cropredy Festival many years ago and thought they were superb.  Last weekend something made me dig it out and play it to a friend – and then of course rave about it.  Hey presto two days later a get an e-mail from Andy telling me all about the re launch and their new CD Spirit.  Synchronicity or what!

A chance to link a wonderful band full of talented people with Fairtrade t shirts to help promote the band.   Next the design they wanted – a Indian mandala based design – how fitting.  So there we were Fairtrade t shirts in hand, printed, and watching a great band.  The crowd loved them.  Download some tracks on www.solsticewebsite.com and go and listen to them………

Global Poverty Project

Charities, Our customer's news

We were proud to sponsor Global Poverty Project for the launch at St Paul’s Cathedral to churches across the UK. They had an audience of 800 which we think is a wonderful achievement. Well done!

They were  joined by the Secretary of State for International Development Douglas Alexander, the  Archbishop of York John Setanmu and TV presenter Denise Robertson.

Here they are wearing their Fairtrade T shirts and taking part in the Global Poverty Project “Tug of War”.

Look at their web site to find out more about the work they do http://globalpovertyproject.com/blog/