Travel the country and support great Kiwi businesses with a beautifully illustrated map of Aotearoa.
Trade Aid’s Feel Good Road Trip of Aotearoa encourages Kiwis to support and celebrate ethical hotspots across Aotearoa, linking conscious consumers with over 100 local businesses selling beautiful crafts and delicious organic food products from Trade Aid.
The map leads its road trippers on and off the beaten track through treasure troves of goodness – from boutique stores to delicious organic grocers and featuring Trade Aid’s 25 retail stores. In the Far North the map takes you through Mangonui Village, to an historic building on the waterfront that you might otherwise miss, where Flaxbush boutique curates displays of fair trade crafts alongside creations by Northland weavers. Feel Good spots within busy urban centres like Atomic’s Rocket Store café on Ponsonby Road in Auckland make it easy for conscious consumers to grab a peaceful moment in their day. In the South join instore craft-making sessions at Sollos, an artisan store situated in The Welder, Christchurch’s coolest new hangout or enjoy your fair trade coffee at Dunedin’s Catalyst, where their aim is to connect people to real food.
The map provides inspiration for Kiwis to support domestic tourism and links them to a family of businesses who put people over and above all else. “We’re proud to link Kiwis to our whānau of businesses who care about the people behind the products and believe in supporting fair trade,” Trade Aid’s CEO Geoff White says. “We have all felt the power of collective action here in Aotearoa in recent times, so let’s use that strength to support businesses who put people first, and in doing that we’ll come out the other side better than we went in.”
Trade Aid is known in Aotearoa for its network of shops around the country, but what is little known is that it was sales to commercial retailers that kick started Trade Aid’s business in Christchurch in 1973. Back when no one used the term social enterprise, Christchurch couple Vi and Richard Cottrell identified a potential market for fair trade artisan crafts on their return from Northern India. It was there they worked with Tibetan Refugees who sold intricately handcrafted carpets to support the regeneration of their community. Knowing they could help, they gathered their friends, cleared out their garage in preparation for shipments from around the world and began wholesaling organic food and crafts to local businesses.
To this day, no-one owns Trade Aid, or maybe everyone owns Trade Aid – that is to say all the Kiwis who have mucked in over the years to keep the vision alive – New Zealanders working together to achieve equity for all. The Feel Good Road Trip continues Trade Aid’s vision and its education for consumers to use their buying power for Good.
Pick up The Feel Good Road Trip of Aotearoa from your local Trade Aid shop or download one here for your next tiki tour.
And now for a limited time, purchase your limited edition, illustrated print of the Feel Good Road Trip of Aotearoa. Own a slice of Trade Aid’s New Zealand history with the purchase of this beautiful artwork and celebrate good people and good business in Aotearoa since 1973. Print run of 300.