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Visionary Soap Bulletin - December 2011
It has been another eventful year for us! We would like to recap some of the positive highlights of 2011 and share with you what's on the horizon for the New Year. We also want to wish all of you a healthy and happy holiday season and thank you sincerely for the continued support shown to us! Without our lovely customers, we would not be able to do all that we do!
Highlights of 2011
Waitrose launched our soaps in store and online in May. The first major UK supermarket to stock our soaps, we are very happy to be working with them. Sales continue to steadily grow and we look forward to next year and possibly have them stock more from our range.
We walked away with the title of 'Green Business of the Year' in the East Sussex Women in Business Awards in September. It has been affirming for us to have been selected as the female-owned and led company with the greenest credentials in East Sussex!
With Hastings Trust, we established a manufacturing partnership through their Community Enablers Project. Aside from all of our products carrying the Fairtrade Mark, all are also produced locally by a fantastic group of individuals! We are extremely proud of this collaboration and although we have experienced challenges along the way, this is the way forward for us most certainly!
We expanded our customer base beyond the UK this year! We added new stockists in Norway, Finland, Sweden, Germany, The Netherlands, Slovenia, The Czech Republic, Greece, Austria, Japan, Poland, France and The United Arab Emirates.
We embarked on our 5th year of working with student apprentices from Pestalozzi International Village. This collaboration has become a tradition for us now and we absolutely love working with these young people!
Aside from numerous donations to schools, homeless shelters, women's refuges, Fairtrade campaigning groups, etc., we have supported many events and organisations this year - Oxfam's Trailwalker 2011, Mayamiko Trust, Sue Ryder, Afrikids, Treating Autism and Comic Relief. Our most recent contribution is to Surviving Christmas. For the third year in a row, we will once again be working with this Hastings charity which offers support to local people who find themselves in hardship at Christmas. We are happy to be donating soap offcuts which will be included in nearly 600 hampers being put together for those who are homeles or experiencing hardship this holiday season.
Last, but certainly not least, we could not do all that we do without the amazing support from the great people at the Fairtrade Foundation and Triodos Bank! And most certainly, our entire ethos is centred around our various Fairtrade producer groups. Quite simply, the inspiration we get from them is what motivates and drives us first and foremost as a company!
Looking Forward...
We are currently gearing up for Sport Relief 2012. Visionary Soap Company has been selected as the Fairtrade Supporting Partner for the campaign and from January 1 (for the entire duration of the campaign), 20 pence per bar of soap sold will be donated to Sport Relief and the important work they do here in the UK and abroad! This is great exposure for our brand and we feel honoured to be chosen to participate!
We are still working with Sainsburys on a possible launch with them in 2012. Also, we are busy putting together plans for Fairtrade Fortnight 2012 with more details to follow in our next newsletter.
Special Offer & Last Day For Guaranteed Christmas Delivery
We are offering a FREE Bag of Soap on ALL orders now through Christmas. We started this promotion a couple of weeks ago and it has been very popular indeed! Combine this with promo code - VSC2011 for a further 10% off. This code is valid until 31 December, 2011. Also, last day for guaranteed delivery for Christmas is Monday 19th. We will make our best effort to deliver on orders placed afterwards but unfortunately will not be able to guarantee arrival for Christmas, so do get your orders in now, if you haven't already done so!
Join Us On Facebook and Twitter
We are reaching more and more people through Facebook and Twitter. If you want to keep tabs on us on a more frequent basis, including weekly specials & promotions, do consider joining us via these mediums. You can use the following links to learn more...
We Wish All Of You A Very Happy Holiday Season...The Visionary Soap Team
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