The team in navy overalls laughing in front of the factory's brick wall, some holding up Sun Jars

Fair Trade · Sonnenglas

Traded fairly. Built by hand in Johannesburg.

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The 10 principles

What is Fair Trade?

Trade where the people at the start count

Fair Trade means: whoever makes a product earns a fair wage, works safely and has a voice. Child labour and forced labour are ruled out, and the environment is protected. And it is checked, so that it stays more than a promise.

And for us?

Fair from the start

Sonnenglas began as a social project: creating jobs in Johannesburg. Since 2013, every Sonnenglas product has been built there, by hand, in our Fair Trade certified factory at Victoria Yards. We create steady, fairly paid jobs, and all profits go back in.

  • WFTOGuaranteed Member of the World Fair Trade Organization
  • Since 2019recognised supplier of the Weltladen-Dachverband
  • Since 2013every product from Johannesburg
  • 100%of profits go back in

Fair Trade for electronics

Coffee, chocolate, textiles – and solar light

People know Fair Trade from coffee, cocoa, textiles and crafts. Electronics are rare in fair trade. That is exactly what we build: a solar light with a circuit board, LEDs and charging electronics, made fairly, in our own factory.

  • Three people in the factory smile at a SOMO module held by a young woman

    Built by hand

    Housing, lens, circuit board: we build every SOMO by hand, and each one passes through many hands before it shines.

  • Hands hold a SOMO module over a sunlit wooden table, its six LEDs lit

    Learning electronics

    Soldering, electronics assembly, welding, robotics and precision craft: all learned here, in the team.

  • Hands hold the back of a SOMO module, its green charge light on

    The first light

    Before a light leaves the factory, it shines for the first time: in our hands.

The 10 principles

Ten principles, one yardstick

The World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO) describes fair trade in ten principles. Fair Trade enterprises are checked against them. Here they are in our words, with the WFTO's own name for each, and what they mean for us.

  1. Creating opportunities

    WFTO · Creating Opportunities for Economically Marginalised Producers

    Fair trade brings work and income to people the market usually passes by.

    At Sonnenglas: Sonnenglas began as a social project to create jobs in Johannesburg. Today we build in our own factory there, where more than 60% of young people have no work.

  2. Open and accountable

    WFTO · Transparency and Accountability

    A fair business shows how it works and stands by its decisions.

    At Sonnenglas: Our factory is open to visitors. And we are checked: by the WFTO and by the Weltladen-Dachverband, the German world shop association.

  3. Trading fairly

    WFTO · Fair Trading Practices

    Keeping agreements, paying reliably, long partnerships instead of quick profit.

    At Sonnenglas: For years, Sonnenglas has been on the shelves of world shops as a certified fair trade supplier.

  4. Fair pay

    WFTO · Fair Payment

    A price and a wage agreed in dialogue, enough to live on.

    At Sonnenglas: Steady, fairly paid jobs in our factory. All profits go back in: into the factory and into the community around it.

  5. No child labour, no forced labour

    WFTO · Ensuring no Child Labour and Forced Labour

    Children belong in school, not at the workbench. And nobody works under force.

  6. Equal rights for everyone

    WFTO · Commitment to Non Discrimination, Gender Equity and Women’s Economic Empowerment, and Freedom of Association

    Nobody is held back. Women and men get the same chances, and everyone is free to organise.

  7. Good working conditions

    WFTO · Ensuring Good Working Conditions

    A safe, healthy workplace and working hours that leave room for life.

    At Sonnenglas: When EZA Fairer Handel from Austria visited our production in 2018, it praised the fair working conditions and the equipment.

  8. Building skills

    WFTO · Providing Capacity Building

    Fair businesses help the people who work for them learn more and do more.

    At Sonnenglas: We teach skills: soldering, electronics assembly, welding, robotics and precision craft.

  9. Speaking up for fair trade

    WFTO · Promoting Fair Trade

    Those who trade fairly talk about it and explain why it matters.

    At Sonnenglas: We take part in Germany's Fair Week (Faire Woche), we were at the "Fair Handeln" fair in Stuttgart, and we write this page.

  10. Climate and environment

    WFTO · Climate Action and Protection of the Environment

    Renewable energy, careful with materials, made to last rather than to be thrown away.

    At Sonnenglas: Our factory runs almost entirely on solar power from its own roof. The Sun Jar is made of glass with recycled content. And today's SOMO fits every older Sun Jar, back to 2013: the jar stays.

The 10 principles at the WFTO

In the factory

The hands behind the light

Every Sun Jar and every SOMO passes through the hands of these people, at Victoria Yards, Johannesburg.

  • A smiling woman holds a glowing Sun Jar in both hands, above her the "Sonnenglas Solar Factory" sign on the brick wall
  • A team member in a "part of the sunniest team" shirt holds a SOMO module over a sunlit wooden table
  • A man in green overalls walks on the roof between long rows of solar panels
  • Two workers laugh together at the workbench
  • Hands assemble SOMO modules in a shaft of sunlight, a screwdriver beside them
  • An artisan threads beads for lantern handles at a sunlit wooden table
  • An old industrial hall at Victoria Yards with a group of visitors in the yard
  • A team member holds a small Sun Jar in her hands
  • A man in the dim Factory Shop smiles up at glowing Sun Jars hanging from the ceiling

Checked

What stands behind the mark

Our factory in Johannesburg is Fair Trade certified. Since 2019, Sonnenglas has been a recognised supplier of the Weltladen-Dachverband, the German world shop association.

Then came the audit of the World Fair Trade Organization, and we passed: Sonnenglas is a WFTO Guaranteed Member. The WFTO mark carries the words "Guaranteed Fair Trade".

Back in 2018, EZA Fairer Handel, a pioneer of fair trade in Austria, visited and assessed our production in Johannesburg: wages, working conditions, environmental protection, documentation, participation and transparency.

All labels and memberships →

World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO) logo: Guaranteed Fair Trade Weltladen-Dachverband logo: recognised supplier

In our stories

Read on

The people, the place, the craft

Get to know the factory at Victoria Yards. And the Artisan Edition: here we work with artists in Africa who refine our products, and so create income.

The factory Artisan Edition Awards