Corporate Responsibility

Many people are discussing corporate responsibility today. We do not only talk about it, but live it.

Don't think you can go shopping to save the world, but by what you buy you can make a difference and help shape the world to the better, step by step.

We continuously work on improving the social and environmental performance of Gundara. Our sustainability strategy is based on the triple P: People, products and the planet.

People

What we care about are people: our producers in developing countries and our clients in the “West”. We employ sustainable business practices by engaging in long-term cooperation with our partners. Gundara is a social enterprise that explicitly cooperates with partners in developing countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Burkina Faso, Zambia, Morocco, Niger, Nepal etc. to create jobs and improve living conditions on the ground. Gundara provides opportunities for young people to be trained professionally. Our producers (small manufactures, cooperatives and associations) work with disadvantaged women, ethnic groups and handicapped. Our goal is to keep as much as possible of the value chain in the developing country itself. Our production processes are transparent. We know the working conditions on the ground and try to link local producers with clients worldwide as directly as possible. We try not to reinvent the wheel: We cooperate with existing manufactures, cooperatives and associations instead of setting up entirely new structures.

Products

Gundara started in 2009 with designing leather bags and producing them in Kabul (Afghanistan). Gundara combines traditional craftsmanship with modern designs and demands. The quality and design of our products is very important for us. We mainly use naturally tanned leather from Afghanistan.

We want our clients to buy our products because they are of good quality and look nice and not out of pity because they come from a developing country. Gundara leather bags are made with great care and attention to detail, employing skills of local women and men. Today we sell a wide range of products such as bags, plaids, scarves, jewelry, slippers, hats, natural cosmetics, coffee and tea, most of them handmade with great care. We spot nice products in developing countries and bring them to you by improving quality and design and adapting the products to our demands in the “West”.

Planet

We very much care about our planet. The electricity we consume at Gundara comes to 100% out of green sources (solar, wind and water). To 95% we use recycled carton boxes to ship our orders. Jean has become an expert over the years to adapt used carton boxes to our needs. Most of the leather bags we sell are made from naturally tanned leather from Afghanistan. Our natural goat leather is entirely tanned with natural ingredients (rhubarb root, pomegranate peel, pidgin dung etc.). We do not have a company car and mostly use transport bycicles to bring our packages to the post or to deliver directly to clients.