Story
Our Story
Ghana:
Where it all began
In 2008 Trev Gregory found himself in the Upper East of Ghana doing some consultancy work for a charity.
He was sitting under a huge baobab tree with the village chief and some community leaders discussing how to bring some sustainable employment to the area.
Trev was intrigued to see many women walking past with pails, buckets and sacks on their head and enquired about what they were carrying and where they were heading.
The women explained they were taking Shea nuts to the market and that some of the women would be walking for 2-3hrs in each direction!
Could this be a solution to the problem they were currently looking at?
Would it be possible for a small nut to make a significant change to a poor community?
To cut a long story short, Trev brought the idea back home with him and he and Denice started to put it into action.
What Happened Next:
Following the global financial crash of 2008/9 Trev & Denice wanted to ensure the women would be protected in some way from global markets fluctuations and figured the best way to do that would be to find an outlet for some of the Shea butter they could make from the shea nuts.
They were also involved with a local rehab centre and a growing problem that could be seen was that the men leaving rehab found it very hard to get employment.
Could they start an employability programme which would use lots of shea butter and also provide these men with suitable workplace skills?
The 2 matched up perfectly and so in 2012, Trade Right International decided to launch a range of soap under the brand name Carishea.’
BBC Scotland News: Hope from Greenock to Ghana
Things have grown considerably since then. From initially working in a portacabin at the rehab centre to our current premises of 6800 sq ft.
Carishea has grown from soap bars and balm, into a full range of high quality, natural skincare products.
We manufacture for other companies, supporting many small businesses as they find their feet.
We are working on a project to collect hand sanitiser bottles, clean them, fill them and get them back into circulation, which results in a huge reduction in plastic waste.
We have a partnership with the Scottish Prison Service where we support the men transitioning from prison back into the community.
We pay our employees at the Real Living Wage or higher. The most anyone will be paid is 3 times this amount. That way we should be able to send surplus profit to Ghana to support the communities there.
Trade Right International
Trade Right International CIC No: SC346232
Registered Office: 27 Lynedoch Industrial Estate, Greenock , Inverclyde PA15 4AX SCOTLAND
VAT: GB 126 1654 29
Managed by: Trade Right Trust: A Charity registered in Scotland. SC040846. A Limited Company registered in Scotland. No: 364560
Important Links
Contact Us
info@traderightinternational.com
27 Lynedoch Industrial Estate, Greenock, Inverclyde, Scotland. PA15 4 AX
+44 1475 786059