The United Pepper story

Once upon a time the founder of United Pepper, Xavier Petre and Thierry Fastenakels, asked themselves a very simple question:

"What if we could create technology products in a sustainable and ecological way?"

"'I think we can!" they answered - and so United Pepper was born!

Fairtrade doesn't just have to mean traditional objects or coffee! United Pepper wants to challenge this perception. Not by brainwashing - but by creating a range of brand new fairtrade technology products that will hopefully change what we all think. By developing this new area they hope that the people they work with will then be able to establish a sustainable and long lasting business.

While some countries are very good at making electronics and seem to be taking over the world, others are struggling. United Pepper doesn't want to fight this globalization - after all the world is a big place! Instead it is offering the people it works with the opportunity to benefit from it.

Our production

Each Lili and Oscar is born in a workshop in Vietnam. The people there are lovely and carefully nurture each Lili and Oscar until they are ready to go out and explore the shelves of shops around Europe.

The nice people in the workshop were under pressure as other workshops were making the same products for less money. By chance United Pepper came along with the idea for Lili and Oscar. That meant they could continue doing what they were good at without the fear of closing or lowering their prices.

Everyone at the factory has lots of skills and experience. They helped United Pepper turn their ideas into reality, transforming Lili and Oscar from a few sketches to the fun and funky objects they are today.

The factory is a pleasant place to work; it is clean, comfortable and safe for all staff. Everyone is paid a good wage, whether male or female, and no children are forced to work as we all know they should be playing or doing their homework! Our workshop is also supported by a third-party with a great deal of experience in fair-trade. They have been very kind and guided us through our production process, making sure we are working in a fairtrade way and helping us to understand how best to work with our producer. In the future they will continue to help us develop new products and continue in their support of our workshops.

Ecological Impact

Everyone is pleased that both Lili and Oscar have a very low ecological impact.

This impact is a careful measurement of:

The ease with which components can be separated for recycling
The percentage of natural materials that make up the product

It's likely that at the end of their long and happy lives each Lili and Oscar will have shared so many happy looks and memories that you won't want to say goodbye. However if this time has arrived then each one can be carefully dismantled and disposed of with out harming the environment. Hurrah!

Packaging

United Pepper's first choice of packaging was something called PLA, a very clever and ecologically sound maize based polymer. However at a certain temperature they found it went a bit gooey and lost its shape - not a good way to ensure Lili and Oscar arrive at your home in tip-top condition!

So they had to come up with another ecological option for storing all the Lili's and Oscars. The solution they came up with was PET which is 100% recycled and recyclable.

But, United Pepper hasn't given up and is still working on finding a solution for biodegradable packaging!

To find out more about PET packaging and locate your nearest recycling bank go to this website and enter your postcode.

Technology

To make sure Lili and Oscar work perfectly we've had to source some of the technical components from other, more developed, countries. As soon as technical production becomes possible in developing countries we'd love to source our components there. We're always looking for new ways to source all our bit and pieces ethically.