FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
Portland, Oregon – March, 2016 - Two core product lines have earned organic certification for the company’s two core product lines. This year, the organization that performed the onsite audit and full business review is Ceres Corporation, the German-based environmental standards certifying group. Ceres is accredited by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
The exclusive suppliers that manufacture for Bambu have earned organic certification for the Veneerware® brand of disposable bamboo plates and bamboo dinnerware. Veneerware consists of disposable plates, disposable cutlery, and disposable bowls and bamboo trays. The Veneerware range is also biobased certified by the USDA.
The range of bamboo spoons, spatulas, sporks, tongs, bamboo servers, and bamboo straws have also been certified. These products are finished with a certified organic finishing oil in the production process.
The exclusive suppliers to Bambu have earned organic certification of its products since 2007.
The annual audit consists of several steps including an onsite inspection of the source of the bamboo. The bamboo material used to make the Bambu brand of products is sourced in the mountainous region in Eastern China and harvested by individual farmers whom lease their land from the government.
The bamboo forest is inspected to ensure that it is not grown with pesticides or fertilizers, and that the bamboo is grown free from any chemicals.
The second part of the annual organic certification inspection process is a social compliance audit that reviews how the material is handled throughout the manufacturing process from harvest through to production. The social audit includes factors such as age, and wage and environmental compliance and safe working conditions.
Ceres only grants the certification if a business meets both the material handling requirements and the social compliance requirements.
Fair Trade Original, an organization based in Holland, provides the evidence that supports this claim. The company has established a set of requirements that their vendors must meet before they will agree to represent a brand. Auditors from Fair Trade Original visited China in 2012 to review the company’s production process and meet first hand the manufacturing partners. After onsite inspection and interviews, the bambu brand became the first brand producing in China to be ever be accepted by the Fair Trade Original group.
For this reason, it is acknowledged that Bambu complies with Fair Trade principles.
With roots in Portland, Oregon, since 2003 Bambu has designed, developed and manufactured handcrafted, modern home products made from renewable materials such as bamboo, hemp, cork, coconut and soy. The company is headquartered in Shanghai, China, where it produces more than 150 different products in its own production workshop and partnering facilities, all of which are located close to their raw-materials sources. Its products are sold in more than a dozen countries through diverse retail distribution partnerships in the gift, kitchen, gourmet, grocery and hospitality market segments. The company is a member of Green America, is recognized as a Gold Tier business Green Business Network, and manufactures using suppliers certified by Ceres. A selection of Bambu’s products are also USDA Biobased-certified.
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