How We Work: Fair Trade Practices

How we work: fair trade you can check

Kasih Co-op is a verified member of the Fair Trade Federation, screened in April 2026 against all nine fair trade principles. Here is exactly how we buy, pay, and work with the batik artisans in Cirebon and Yogyakarta, Java, who make every piece.

1. Who makes your bandana

Our pieces are made in family-run batik workshops in Cirebon, a coastal batik center in West Java, and in Yogyakarta. Most are run by mother-and-son or mother-and-daughter teams, who hire artisans from their own neighborhoods.
Our sourcing and quality-control partner in Tangerang is part of my family's company, and we have worked together since 2018. Three staff there check every order before it ships to the US.
We have worked with our Cirebon master artisans since 2020. Across all our products we have 18 artisan partnerships in Indonesia, over 80% of them women-owned. Our batik comes from three master batik artisan workshops.

Our workshops

Workshop	Master artisans	City	Craft	Working together since
Batik workshop 1	Mr. Alan, Mrs. Ari and Mrs. Umaroh	Cirebon	Batik cap (copper stamp) and batik tulis (hand-drawn)	2020
Batik workshop 2	Mrs. Rosipa and Mr. Fajar	Cirebon	Batik cap (copper stamp)	2020
Batik workshop 3	Master batik artisan	Yogyakarta	Batik tulis (hand-drawn)	2022
Quality control and sourcing partner	Family business	Tangerang	Quality control and shipping	2018

2. How we set prices and pay

Master artisans quote their own price. We accept it without bargaining.
We review pay at the start of every production cycle. If a design takes longer or materials cost more, the rate goes up before work starts or after samples are made.
Pay is benchmarked to the regional minimum wage where our artisans live, as the floor. We check that our orders let artisans earn at or above it.
Workshops are paid per piece by bank transfer. New partners are paid before goods ship; long-term partners within one business week of delivery. A 30–50% advance is available on request.
We share our cost structure with artisans, so they know how a $23 bandana's price is built.

3. Steady work, not rush orders

We share our order pipeline months ahead so workshops can plan staff and cash flow.
We rotate orders across long-term partners rather than overloading one.
If we must cancel, we check first: if production has started, the order stands. If not, we swap in other designs so the workshop keeps the work.

4. Inside the workshops

Open-air studios for safe ventilation during hot-wax and dyeing, fenced and locked at night, with separate zones for cutting, wax stamping, dyeing, boiling and drying.
What we're improving: dye contact with bare hands. We've asked for professional gloves; adoption is ongoing.
No one under 18 works on our products. Our team in Indonesia checks in with each workshop yearly; I visit in person every 1–2 years.

5. Materials and environment

100% cotton for bandanas and scarves. Hand-stamped (cap) and hand-drawn (tulis) batik, no machine printing. One hand-drawn tulis piece takes about 10 hours to make.
Most colors use synthetic dyes; we track every dye and fixative used. Our natural-dye line uses plant-based pigments, and we're growing it.
Plastic-free packaging since 2025; we reuse the boxes our Indonesian shipments arrive in.

6. Culture, credit and consent

I grew up in Indonesia. Batik is my own heritage, and the designs come from our artisans' family copper-stamp libraries.
We ask artisans' permission before sharing their names, photos or stories.

7. Verified by

Kasih Co-op is a verified member of the Fair Trade Federation (see our listing among FTF Verified Members on Faire) and is verified by People + Planet First.

Read our Code of Conduct for the standards every supplier and artisan partner must meet.

Questions about our supply chain? Contact us. We answer every one.

— Ivana, founder

How We Work: Our Fair Trade Practices