I am passionate about Latin America. I did Spanish at university, with a year in Cuba as part of my studies, then did a Masters in Latin American politics and economics before going to live in Brazil working for an NGO on gun control projects. Experiencing these social problems first hand has had a real impact on the politics and economics of Jungleberry.

My partner noticed that very talented and creative artisans in Latin America were using techniques and materials that we don’t know about here. However, they struggled to access a wider market, especially because big, brash consumer items are still very popular in Brazil, while the eco vibe is not as strong. We began bringing jewellery and accessories back to the UK from the Amazon basin and Mexico, and selling it at my partner’s sister’s stall in Camden Lock – it got a good reaction.

Most people associate fair trade with foodstuffs like bananas, coffee and tea coming out of India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, but it’s so much more than that. With food and drink most profit goes to the shop. We wanted to trade in commodities that that have added value and some of that value should go to producers so they get a better deal. Latin America is stuck in this trap of just exporting raw materials, so if you export cacao, someone else makes it into chocolate and gets all the benefit. With jewellery and accessories you have the finished article.

There are three elements to ethical; we pay 50% in advance, with the second 50% on delivery. Then we guarantee a continuity of orders so producers can rely on a steady stream of work and steadily increase their incomes over time. And finally there is an element of developmental investment in them or their community. For example, one Amazonian producer needed a machine to polish seeds and we gave him a micro loan where he pays us back small amounts each month while he expands his business.

Being design-led doesn’t mean being expensive. There is still a perception that being ethical is to pay over the odds, but we have nothing over £200. We don’t want to be an exclusive place for only wealthy people. Yes, we still make a living but it’s not like a city wage. However, we’re not doing it to earn pot-loads of cash, we took an income drop but our quality of life has improved. It’s much more stimulating to have contact with producers and to be able to travel out to the countries where we work. We also have a baby, so being able to work from home is also very useful!

Very broad geographically and demographically, and both men and women. There is still a hardcore niche who have been ‘doing ethical’

for a long-time but now ethical is coming very much into the mainstream – a measure of this is that 40% of bananas sold in UK

are fair trade. No one would have thought that 10 years ago.

We use some very unexpected material for our jewellery and that’s a big selling point – like the acai berry, which makes a nutritious juice and grows everywhere in the Amazon. The acai husks are normally discarded but our producers recycle them, harden them, and dye them to make jewellery. Then there is the jarina seed, or ‘vegetable ivory’ as it is known, that feels like a light stone against your skin. It can be made to look like marble and be pared down to make, earrings, brooches and necklaces. We also have handbags made from a type of palm tree that produces this amazing hairy fur stuff that falls as it is growing. It’s weird to describe but we make beautiful bags out of it and very mainstream looking-ones too – we are trying to get away from an thical hippy image!

I love south London. It’s great living equidistant between Clapham North and Brixton, because I like the way that, depending on my mood, I can either go right or left and come across a completely different atmosphere – Clapham if I want a nice coffee and a stroll, and Brixton if I am feeling a bit more street-wise. I love being in Brixton because it’s the closest feeling you can get in London to a Latin American/Caribbean type flavour; where you can walk past a Colombian butcher next to a Jamaican fishmonger, and experience Latin flavours and colours.