Usually when I arrive in Bali, Ringo will give me a little list of issues that he cannot fix.. usually excessive price rises making a product uncompetitive. But this time the list is long, not just price rises but problems in supply. We have slow supply issues with even some of our oldest and best suppliers. Something is going wrong. So I went to investigate..

The area above Ubud running upto the foothills of Mount Agung is full of small villages each specialising in particular crafts. One of my favorite things is to buzz around those villages with Ringo finding artisans and contracting them to make products for AW. These guys don't have websites, many don't even have a business card. Family businesses that in many cases are generational, with skills passed down from father to son. Often they are rice farmers tending the rice terrace.. but that job is intermittent, so they use farming downtime to make crafts. Crafts that find their way to good gift shops around the world.

A workshop with normally about twenty people sat crossed legged on the floor carving albasia wood items.

The boss told us that normally he has ten guys just making the carved sitting Buddha.  But today he just had one.

The route of the problem is that Bali is booming with record numbers of tourists arriving. The hotels and restaurants are offering higher wages to attract staff, so many have left the villages to work in the resort areas. Added to this problem is that local gift shop owners turn up with cash in hand and buy finished products which the artisans think they can replace later. Thus orders get delayed. 

What's the solution? The other day I spent time with Ringo visiting five different suppliers with basically the same problem. I argued that during the pandemic we had been there for them and placed orders when no other buyers came. But that didn't work.. Of course everyone is really sorry for the delays but what can they do? 

In the end, the solution is (as always) a combination of things. 1. Pay more to attract artisans back, and they are more happy in the village. 2. Offshore some production to other parts of Indonesia. 3.. Cancel the products that just cannot be made now and focus on the ones that can. 

Despite all the problems, as Ringo pointed out to me we still load a container every week or so. Shipping more artisan products to Europe than ever before. 

I think eventually the market will fix itself. Lots of folk from other parts of Indonesia are coming to Bali for work. Even in our warehouse we have people from Sumba, Java and Flores. Our digital marketing team hail from all parts of Indonesia. Hopefully artisans will find their way back to work and be better paid.

Back in the UK.. we have FREE shipping (UK mainland) all August. Plus lots of other deals and new products. It's all go..

From our Aromatics team new products are coming... (with lots in the pipeline) - the bath bomb kits are getting a great response and selling well. See below.

Also we have a new product that is, I promise you going to literally BLOW YOUR MIND... yes.. Smelling Salts with a modern twist.  And with aromatic benefits to take this ancient product to the next level. 

While I was in Istanbul recently in the tea and herbal shops.. they all sell smelling salts. The old fashioned type (and quite expensive), as you are paying for your herbal tea they offer you a smell, which of course makes you jump in surprise and causes much laughter.. I don't know what percentage of customers buy a bottle of smelling salts but I guess it's quite high. 

I'm planning my next trip to India with our man in India; Mr Chatterjee.. I will go and visit the new factory in Serampore, near Kolkata. The last time I was there was just before the pandemic, so I'm looking forward to catching up with the team there.. but first lots of jobs to get done here.

Have a wonderful weekend. 

Take care.. as they say here Hati Hati.