Havelock North Trade Aid volunteers finding other ways to contribute after store closure

Patricia Prescott, Hastings Trade Aid Trust secretary, at the Havelock North Trade Aid store shutting down this month. Photo / Warren Buckland

The Trade Aid mission won’t end in Havelock North even as its store closes this month.

Social enterprise Trade Aid has operated since 1973, founded by Christchurch couple Vi and Richard Cottrell over 50 years ago.

Trade Aid announced in March that it would progressively close its retail stores and instead focus on importing, wholesale, and selling online due to a “challenging environment” amid the cost-of-living crisis and declining financial performance.

The store will shut its doors on Saturday, one of 13 stores to close this month.

Trade Aid is well known for promoting sustainable and ethical trade in New Zealand, working with small food and craft producers around the world to source handmade, organic and fair trade products.

In 2023 Trade Aid supplied 20 per cent of New Zealand’s non-instant coffee in supermarkets, cafes and other outlets and was the top organic chocolate supplier in the country according to former chief executive Geoff White.

The Havelock North store has one paid manager and 11 volunteers - many are retirees, while the youngest is a 14-year-old girl.

Havelock North store manager Julia Beazley said the volunteers had felt “a bit lost” at the news of the store closure, but all were still looking for another way to contribute going forward.

She said the regular customers had been emotional too.

“We’ve had customers almost cry. That is how impactful it is,” Beazley said.

“People resonate with Trade Aid, every time they walk through the door there is a reason, there is a connection they feel. People remember [relatives] working there back in the day, they would walk in and see their nana or someone like that.”

Patricia Prescott said the Havelock North Trade Aid store has run for decades, moving to the spot from a Hastings location which was first set up in the 1970s. Photo / Warren Buckland

Hastings Trade Aid Trust secretary Patricia Prescott said there would be other avenues for her and the other volunteers to use what they had learnt to help the Trade Aid mission locally.

“There will be an online presence, an education presence and an advocacy presence. As long as we can keep that at the forefront of people’s minds and get people to think before they spend,” Prescott said.

She wasn’t sure what Trade Aid would look like locally yet, but they intended to maintain membership “cells” across the country.

“You will be able to contact a local person through the website and they will come to your organisation whatever it is and talk about the issues that are important to Trade Aid.”

She said one of the most “joyful” parts of working in the store for her had been sharing the story behind everything they sold to customers.

She said the store had received lots of support from its “amazing” community.

“People will make a journey to come here because they know the products and they believe in the mahi, they believe in what we do,” she said.

“They’ve been wonderfully loyal and great advocates for fair trade, sustainability and the use of natural products.”

She said the Napier Trade Aid store will continue to operate for likely a few more months, but a closure date isn’t confirmed at this stage.

James Pocock joined Hawke’s Bay Today in 2021 and writes breaking news and features, with a focus on the environment, local government and post-cyclone issues in the region. He has a keen interest in finding the bigger picture in research and making it more accessible to audiences. He lives in Napier. james.pocock@nzme.co.nz