Khoisan Trading

The Salt of the Earth

Friendly Florindiena Faro is a woman, who in a leap of faith, decided to leave her home in Cape Town and move to the West Coast to restart her life. Florindiena (37) is a factory supervisor at Khoisan Trading, a company that produces a mineral rich, pure, natural and unrefined sea salt, which is hand harvested in the traditional manner.

She was raised by her aunt and her uncle in Ravensmead in Cape Town. Then, in a bold decision to change her life 14 years ago, she moved 140km up the West Coast to a small salt rich town called Veldrift. She jumped at the chance of working in Khoisan Trading, because she could not find any work for the first year that she stayed in Veldrift. "Khoisan was my first job."

Khoisan Trading employs people exclusively from the local community, in an area that has suffered economically to cutbacks in the fishing industry. The companyis certified with Fairtrade International, an international non-profit organisation that works with traders and producers ensuring they provide better working and living conditions for their employees. Some of their products bear the international Fairtrade certification mark, which assures consumers that the producers of these products are fairly treated.

Florindiena has worked there for almost 13 years. She started as a general worker, and after years of commitment and hard work at the factory she was promoted three years ago to the position of supervisor. It was during this time that she found out about the involvement of the Fair Trade Trust and Turqle Trading. Turqle Trading - an umbrella organisation providing an ethical interface between local producers and the markets in Europe - is also Fairtrade certified. People around the world choose to buy these products because they know that the producers have been treated and paid fairly.

Florindiena says that her life has been enriched because of the support and self-improvement workshops she has received at her work. Workers' school fees, bursaries, management and HIV/Aids courses are paid for by the Fair Trade Trust, of which Turqle Trading and the Dutch importer Fair Trade Original are the main contributors. Since its establishment the trust has provided a variety of benefits for the workers. Florindiena says, "We can use the money we saved from the school fees for something else." She adds that the workers can also apply for partial financial support if they decide to further their studies after matric. The workers are also encouraged to go for their driver's licenses, which are paid for in full. Some workers have already taken advantage of this opportunity.

Besides the financial support, the workers also attend life skills courses, such as computer training, budgeting, HIV/Aids training and women's health. Florindiena has attended management training courses to support her in her role as a supervisor. "One thing I can say is that we are not treated any differently because we are factory workers. We are treated as equals," she says.

In the 14 years Florindiena has lived in Veldrift, she has firmly embedded herself into her adopted community. She is the proud mother of nine-year-old Chrisandré and owns a house in Noordhoek, an area just outside Veldrift. Right now, and in the foreseeable future, she says her goal is to improve her life by upgrading her home for herself and her daughter.

Florindiena Faro holds assorted salts that are bound for households all over the world.

For more information on Turqle Trading and Khoisan Trading visit their websites at www.turqle.com and www.khoisantrading.co.za. 

Article and photos by Barbara Meyer, commissioned by Fairtrade Label South Africa.