An interview with Greg Valerio, Pioneer Ethical Jeweller, On Working With The Fairtrade Labeling Organization to Co-ordinate Their International Gold Program
Introduction: Greg Valerio has taken a part-time position with the Fair Labeling Organization (FJA) to manage the international gold program of the Fair Labeling Organization (FLO).
Greg and I co-founded Fair Jewelry Action. His new work means more of a focus on gold and less time on other FJA campaigns. Below, I interviewed him regarding his new position and plans for Fairtrade gold. Marc Choyt, FJA USA
Marc: You’ve always been so anti- bureaucracy and not someone who loves institutions. Even in our own Fair Jewelry Action homepage, I mean, this is your own language: “FJA is a dynamic international network of jewelers, it is not an organisational bureaucracy.”
So, my friend, how does it feel to have joined– I won’t call it the dark side…but it is, nevertheless, the FLO bureaucracy?
Greg: You might need to write some scathing editorial comment about me, as you have done for others. It might just help my credibility.
Marc: My favorite activity–scathing editorial.
Greg: But actually, one of the top priorities within the fairtrade movement is to remove as much excess bureaucracy as possible, get it out of the way and get the market moving. It is also horses for courses. Traceable, transparent and certifiable Gold needs a strong robust system that can bring governance and Fairtrade International is the only organization on the map currently with the strength and experience to do this with a product as turbulent and secretive as gold
Marc: How is the separation between Alliance for Responsible Mining (ARM) and FLO going to affect jewelers?
Greg: The partnership finished on April 21st and at that point the Fairtrade and Fairmined label and standards became two different systems. It remains to be seen what ARM’s process will develop into, all I can comment on is that the `Fairtrade Movement remains 100% committed to making gold and associated precious metals a success story for small scale miners and jewellers.
We are currently putting the finishing touches to three very strong and appropriate business models that will fit all sizes of the jewellery world; from the small jobbing jeweller, all the way through to A list brands who wish to source responsibly and and ethically, yet are not keen on co-branding.
Marc: Christina Miller of Ethical Metalsmiths and I developed a business plan for introducing Fairtrade gold into the US—at the request of FLO, completing it nearly a year ago. Fairtrade ended up dropping our initiative.
Greg: I’m 100% convinced the US is the biggest market for Fairtrade Gold and it is not true the business plan has died, it was just in temporary suspension and it is my job to bring it to a commercial success in the USA.
Importantly there is now a Fairtrade America office that we will be coordinating with. The number one priority is to get the market moving. A kilo of gold a month to the states, great, how can we make it 2 or 3 or 4? How do we make it work for you guys? I’m thinking of a central licensing hubs. We have 50 kilos a month of Fairtrade gold coming out of the ground. How do we sell it into the US market, you guys need to lead, I will support and facilitate as much as possible.
Marc: What are some of the factors in making it difficult to sell and expand the current market to reach the capacity?
Greg: The feedback from the market—unanimous—is that the process is too bureaucratic, too many costs incurred and that the premium linked to historically high gold prices just made it too expensive for the market to work with.
We have been working very closely with the market and the miners since April to establish a level of premium and streamlined business models that will deliver both premium value for the miners as well as make it work well for the jewellers. The new Fairtrade Gold premium is now $2000 USD per kilo and this has now been approved by the Fairtrade standards Unit after extensive consultation with key commercial and mining partners. We feel we have hit the right level for everyone, most importantly the miners.
Marc: I’m was excited about hearing that figure of $2000 when you mentioned it. Basically, it translates to about $25 dollars of extra cost on the average gold ring, which I believe will be acceptable to the market. As a jeweler, it is still expensive to produce these rings because there is not the scale to make production efficient.
Greg: I have been in conversation with some American companies that might assist in that regards.
Marc: What has been hard is this feeling– well, there has not been a strong connection between the market, as represented by the jewelers, and the miners. This has been part of the problem, and why so many jewelers were upset over ARM’s proposals to mass balance last fall. It would have impacted the brand. But now, without ARM, you seem to be loosing your partner on the ground.
Greg: Fairtrade gold started as collaboration between jewelers and miners. I was the first international jeweller to go to Oro Verde in Colombia and bring back Green gold, tell their story and turn it into wedding rings. What we need to guard against is too many layers and filters saying they speak for the miners or the market.
Fairtrade’s job is to assist the miners in doing their own communications directly with the market. What I discovered is that when jewellers and miners meet and do business together, then the real chemistry that creates a new and dynamic story around Fairtrade gold is created.
What we need to do now is to bring those jewelers and miners together. So we will be meeting in October to all talk face to face and plan out our market and commercial strategy for the next five years. Miners and operators and jewelers taking collective decision face to face and working together is the only way for us to achieve success.
Marc: In a sense, though, Fairtrade is now the intermediary?
Greg: In one sense yes. But my desire is to get people talking as directly as possible. The positive side is that you can get your own stories direct from the horses’ mouth. The downside is that we do not want the miners to need a PR team that’s why it is better to have one group talking to another group.
Another thing is now that Fairtrade will be dealing directly with the miners, jewelers will be able to have a direct market access/narrative to specific mines. We can begin to get jewelers hooked up with a specific mines if this is something they want.
Marc: I am already selling this gold as a fair trade gold jeweler and have been since 2011. But I have had to call the gold, “fair trade” instead of using the trademarked term, “fairtrade.” Will there be a new label and licensing agreement between jewelers and Fairtrade to back up pioneers such as myself?
Greg: Yes, what’s been clear is that the jeweler wants a simple recognizable consumer label, and a strong and clear narrative to apply to their jewellery. The Fairtrade label is the world’s most consumer recognized certification label and we must build on that consumer visibility. Therefore we have been working round the clock to get our Fairtrade precious metals labels designed, our business models in place, our standard changed and commercially aligned, licensing contracts written up and the entire foundations of a global Fairtrade Gold offering secure. Once we have completed this, then we will engage the consumer with the best gold story in the world from a place of depth and solidity.
I have to say I have found the Fairtrade people really easy to work with, totally dedicated to the success of the small-scale miners and as a result of this professionalism we have completed almost all of the above in record time. I am very proud of what the Fairtrade team have achieved in such a short space of time.
For jewellers who want to get hold of certified Fairtrade Gold they can do so immediately by contacting Cookson’s Precious metals in Birmingham UK off this link. They can ship around the world.
Marc: That’s what I’ve been doing, until we can find a US distributor. Are there plans to expand jewelry sourcing into other product categories?
Greg: We are putting the finishing touches to a 15 year plan, and part of this will be to create a generic set of standards for the ASM sector and then have sections that are product specific. That means we can gather all the disparate groups in gemstones and diamonds and when the time is right begin to tackle Fairtrade gemstones and diamonds. No small task, but one that needs to be tackled. There are so many excellent groups out there doing an amazing work and our job is to serve and support them as best we can.
Marc: Will your new position impact your work in Africa?
Greg: I certainly hope so and for the better, I was in Uganda meeting the Fairtrade gold miners who are working towards certification and it is very clear Africa really needs real investment into the small-scale mining sector. It was one of the reasons why I said yes to the job. Fairtrade is an internationally recognized and respected organization, and I am already finding ethical investment houses calling to ask how they can get involved, so the future looks positive.
For me certified Fairtrade Gold from Africa will be dream come true, but it will not be easy. One of our targets in Africa is to get a number of eco-gold sources where no mercury or cyanide is used in the extraction process. Fairtrade Africa are doing an amazing job at working with partners in Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya to achieve this goal and it is a privilege to support and serve them.
For more information on how to source Fairtrade Gold or silver please contact Greg directly at gold@fairtrade.net
