Women can sell to the world

MANILA, Philippines - In 2011, ECHOstore was invited by proponents of the Global Action on Sourcing from Women Vendors, a conference in Chongqing, China specifically to promote coffee and textiles. The vendor forum promoted  four other categories – Construction, Green products, Outsourcing and  Technology.

ECHOstore is a small start up, so why were we in this export forum? Because we are considered a Woman Vendor. A company with 51 percent ownership by women qualifies in this global program started by the International Trade Center, WEConnect International and Quantum Leaps.

Who are the buyers? Consider this stellar list of Fortune 500 companies: Accenture, Walmart.com,  Pfizer, IBM, FedEx and Marriott, to name just a few. All these companies signed up with WEConnect International because they all have a procurement program that respects diversity. Five percent of their spending goes to WOEs, or women-owned enterprises.

So, because of this forum, ECHOstore started to supply specialty coffee to Accenture Philippines, through inspiration and direction from Accenture Global Procurement. It also helped that the International Women’s Coffee Alliance (IWCA) determined who of women coffee farmer-producers and retailers could supply coffee requirements of these US and European companies, and memoranda of agreement were signed during the forum.

ECHOstore sustainable lifestyle was founded almost five years ago to provide market access to small producers, artisans and community groups who had no access to markets. Little did we know that three years after our opening, we would gain access to global markets as well.

The same women vendor forum met again in Mexico City in 2011 with a concurrent session on government procurement as sponsored by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC). In Mexico, deals were made with Rwandan coffee farmers to supply a South African coffee shop chain. Government representatives listened to small suppliers as they got contracts with government buyers and bigger companies like Walmart.com, IBM, Marriott and Full Circle Exchange.

A group of community women weavers from Arequipa, Peru who used body looms and whose group I met back in 2008 in Peru also found buyers from Walmart.com and Full Circle Exchange for shawls made from alpaca wool at this same Mexico meet. I saw it come full circle – from viewing the weaving center to actually seeing these small producers sign contracts three years later.

In the recent Global Summit of Women in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, ECHOstore sold shawls and scarves made by the members of our Great Women Project (Badiangan, Iloilo weavers and Taal, Batangas embroiderers). Who bought the scarves? A Minister of Education from Ethiopia, a South African delegate, another Mongolian lady delegate and many more international buyers. Who would have thought that what we were selling in Serendra would suddenly find global customers?

It only confirms the positive direction in which we are headed – even small community producers who make quality products will find global customers.

The must, however, is QUALITY. The next requirement is MADE BY WOMEN. So, quality products that are woven, manufactured, sewn or processed by women can have a place in the international market. That gives great hope to our talented sewers, weavers and other “work at home” artisans who otherwise would not have the chance to sell beyond their barrio or village.

At the same Global Summit of Women in Malaysia, I spoke in a Social Entrepreneurship Panel with Willa Shalit, founder of Maiden Nation of the USA and also of RoadToMarket Ltd. Though our companies are 8,498 miles apart, our two companies have the same  purpose: To give opportunities to women who have the skill and talent by introducing them to global markets through women-specific or  procurement diversity programs. Or by selling them on an online site which reaches the whole world. Or even by having a humble store in Serendra in Taguig City or Podium in Mandaluyong City or our latest store at Centris Walk in Quezon City.

The results are just as heart-warming. Women can produce coffee or bangles and bracelets and sell them across the world. The same reason resonates among the Global Platform advocates and the rest of the world who buy from women or who empower women through business. Women bring back 70 percent of their income to their family. Men, on the other hand, only bring back 40 percent to the home. These are global statistics that are backed by empirical data.

As if these results are not reason enough, Princess Kumalah Sug-Elardo from Sulu has already sold her coffee – named Coffee for Peace – to recent visitors to IFEX, the international  food fair, and soon I will also take her coffee to the next Women Vendors Exhibition and Forum (WVEF) convention in India in November. Her washed organic coffees fetch a better price and bring another benefit to her community – peace. Many of the village leaders have sold most of their firearms so they can buy more coffee to sell to Princess. She became the de facto consolidator for quality coffee from Sulu.

So, how can you reach these global markets? First, you can check the quality of the Great Women products we have already brought abroad and see how your products compare. It is not buying out of pity. It is buying fashion, it is buying value, it is buying taste and quality. Whether it is coffee or a shawl, the same quality standards are observed.

Second, look up the Women Vendors Exhibition Forum under www.intracen.org/projects/women-trade. You may also email [email protected]. You may just have the product the world is looking for. And as a woman producer or a supporter of women vendors, the world is just waiting to see and smell or taste your products and make the Filipinos even prouder of what we have and can make for the global market.

A man who learned of the program said he would name his wife as chairperson so he could get into the program. Sorry, they do check that indeed the wife or daughter really owns 51 percent of the business to be able to qualify as a supplier or woman vendor. There are no shortcuts or backdoor entrances. Women must take ownership of their companies and take the lead in selling to the world.

For more information on how to participate in the WVEF 2013 in New Delhi, India on Nov. 19-21, 2013, email the author at [email protected].