Sally Ann Ltd. is an exciting fair trade business of The Salvation Army where handmade interior home décor products are manufactured by the disadvantaged in Bangladesh and exported for retail sale in industrialized countries.
Sally Ann’s earliest roots lie with Canadian Salvationist, Mark Stanley, who came to Bangladesh to look at economic development opportunities within the existing projects of the Salvation Army. Living in a country with little Western influence, Mark was missing his potato chips. He set to work making a batch and soon he had a product for sale. Production quickly moved to The Salvation Army headquarters, employing needy Bengali women, and Sally Ann Chips were in business. As import laws improved in Bangladesh, Pringles and Ruffles made their way to Dhaka and the market for Sally Ann Chips diminished. After Mark’s departure from Bangladesh, The Salvation Army decided to go into serious business using products made in their development programs and kept the name, Sally Ann.
Under the leadership of Bo and Birgitte Brekke, items produced in the development programs were sold for profit. The first Sally Ann Shop was opened in Dhaka at The Salvation Army headquarters with one consumable product that kept people coming back and still does today! Fresh waffles and cream are for sale in the coffee corner. Sally Ann is the only place to purchase fresh cream in all of Bangladesh.
Soon, there was an obvious need for export sales to sustain profitability and the employment of the Bengali people. Eventually, a connection was made with Norway and in 2003, the first Sally Ann shop was opened in the industrialized world.
Sally Ann Bangladesh Ltd. is committed to adhering to Fair Trade principals of business and to giving disadvantaged people hope, possibilities and means to own independent development. Sally Ann is dedicated to maintaining openness and complete honesty in all its activities in the world’s most corrupt country.
Norwegian professionals design many of the products produced by Sally Ann with the home décor market as their target customer. Bangladeshi nationals, who have faced unspeakable hardship and poverty, manufacture the products. Production groups range from ladies groups weaving baskets or making cards, to a knitting factory and wrought iron production.
Rekha is a Bangladeshi woman who was forced to marry in grade ten. She had to give up the education she cherished to fulfill her wifely duties but soon found herself in an impossible situation. Her husband was a drug addict and frequented the nearby brothel. Rekha was befriended by a Salvation Army worker at the brothel and was given a position as a Sally Ann producer. Receiving a fare wage, her life has changed and she is saving toward her future. She has been taught how to save a portion of her earning and has bought a goat to bring her more income. Sally Ann Ltd. has given Rekha hope for a bright future.
The current General Manager of Sally Ann, Greg Warkentin, a Canadian from Niagara Orchard Community Church, believes that Sally Ann must not only offer economic hope but eternal hope.
The long-term objective of Sally Ann is to establish an efficient multi-national operation where as many as possible of the third world countries and the industrialized countries can cooperate and participate. The Salvation Army is present in 110 countries.
The requirement of profitability is crucial. The entire purpose is trade not aid and the business must become profitable and over time self-financing. All profits made from the operation of Sally Ann are used to develop the Sally Ann business further.
God is at work in His Kingdom business with the expansion and development of the Sally Ann business. Lives are changed with each purchase and the story of Sally Ann is unfinished.
Article by Dawne Warkentin
