Why We Exist
Upon travelling to India, we saw some of the real world. If you haven’t seen this in person, you’d be shocked. It hurt our eyes, ears and spirits when we learnt about the horrific conditions and suffering that takes place in factories in developing countries.
It’s plain wrong when businesses exploit labour, especially in order to produce a product that’s just like any other. If you're not familiar with this madness, it's called unethical production. You can learn about it here
Now, as terrible as this is, we also stumbled upon these incredibly talented local people that were producing remarkable products that were infinitely better than what we could find at home. We were stunned.
With such little resources local people were crafting products that screamed quality as a result of the care and pride they put into them. It was true craftsmanship that is missing in our world of automation and assembly lines.
And as we travelled on, we learnt the world is full of talented people like this, they're just hidden away off the beaten track, trying to make ends meet. The problem is that these people are competing against large evil mass producing factories, and frankly they are stuck in a rat cage. Life is a struggle. Marketing is a luxury none can afford. The best bet is a market stall and a few friends bartering on the street.
They needed a nudge.
That is when Duffle & Co was born. We believed with the right platform we could help many gifted people in the developing world escape and 'break free' by bringing you their hidden gems at a fraction of the rate. That if we helped them escape, the flow on effect would be great – they could expand, employ more people, and fewer people would be stuck in ferocious factory conditions.
Moreover, we felt it our duty to tell their life changing stories that touched us so dearly. We felt you had to meet these inspirational people. We felt you needed their products. And we felt they deserved a shot.
It’s plain wrong when businesses exploit labour, especially in order to produce a product that’s just like any other. If you're not familiar with this madness, it's called unethical production. You can learn about it here
Now, as terrible as this is, we also stumbled upon these incredibly talented local people that were producing remarkable products that were infinitely better than what we could find at home. We were stunned.
With such little resources local people were crafting products that screamed quality as a result of the care and pride they put into them. It was true craftsmanship that is missing in our world of automation and assembly lines.
And as we travelled on, we learnt the world is full of talented people like this, they're just hidden away off the beaten track, trying to make ends meet. The problem is that these people are competing against large evil mass producing factories, and frankly they are stuck in a rat cage. Life is a struggle. Marketing is a luxury none can afford. The best bet is a market stall and a few friends bartering on the street.
They needed a nudge.
That is when Duffle & Co was born. We believed with the right platform we could help many gifted people in the developing world escape and 'break free' by bringing you their hidden gems at a fraction of the rate. That if we helped them escape, the flow on effect would be great – they could expand, employ more people, and fewer people would be stuck in ferocious factory conditions.
Moreover, we felt it our duty to tell their life changing stories that touched us so dearly. We felt you had to meet these inspirational people. We felt you needed their products. And we felt they deserved a shot.
So we decided to do our part to solve this, and to bring you something a little different. Something that you can't find in your local mall or the many crowded 'trending' boutique shopping apps or websites online.
A special place where you can visit these peoples' local stalls from home. Where every product is vetted for quality. terrific in taste. Deep in meaning. Joyous in price. Impeccably packaged. And delivered to your door. Or your money is promptly returned. We bring to you what we felt and imagined: an authentic local, yet high quality market which ought to be online. That's what you're looking at on your screen today.
And it's just the first manifestation of our mission, being: To use the power of collaboration and adventure to find special stories and truly unique, remarkable and meaningful products we feel you need to have, that you couldn't find at home, for a fraction of the price. And once found, to share them with you and the rest of the western world.
And along with our mission, we promise that all products we offer you have a positive social impact without compromising style. Anyway, as we said above, it's just the beginning for us. Day by day, we're slowly uncovering many great craftsmen/women for you to meet, and there's plenty of remarkable products on their way that we know you'll love.
So definitely keep in loop by subscribing to our new stalls as they come out here (Many of the stall items will be limited editions, so you'll want to get ahead of the pack by signing up). But more importantly we're thrilled to have you here visiting – so signing up would allow us to keep serving you by finding hidden gems your friends will envy that you won't find at home, at prices you love.
On behalf of all our platform stall owners and our entire team, we thank you in advance for all your support. Without you, we'd be lost.
You are the ones making the difference!
You are the ones making the difference!
The Duffle & Co team.
P.S. If you're an adventurer like us, and you've found some locally produced treasures on your travels, that result in incredible life changing stories that you feel are rare, special and people would love, then please let us know... so together we can make change and all win! (Note: we absolutely share the proceeds with our 'rescuers'; they create value for everyone and it's only fair. Just send us a note here with the subject line 'Craftsperson found': info@duffleandco.co.nz)
