'Ethical' bag firm's secret success

By David Gregory
BBC Midlands Today science and environment correspondent

Something extraordinary is happening in our supermarkets. The plastic bag is slowly disappearing.

In the last two years Tesco say they have reduced the number they hand out by two billion.

Bags made from jute are proving popular with shoppers

And on a visit to a branch of Tesco in Solihull it is easy to see what is replacing them.

We are reusing plastic bags but we are also investing in "bags for life".

Often made of a coarse brown material and emblazoned with an uplifting environmental message, at Tesco in Shirley you can find them for sale by every checkout.

Customers told me they like them because "they don't split and I'm saving the planet".

But what they did not know was that many of these bags are produced by a Midlands company.

In fact, this month Jutexpo will sell over one million of them to the top supermarkets and a wide range of other organisations; from the National Trust to major airlines.

What is jute?

It has been a phenomenal rise for the small company from Broadway, in Worcestershire, which only started out six years ago.

But first things first, just what is jute?

The firm said it worked hard to ensure its workers were not under age

Sam Turner, from Jutexpo, said: "It is a tall, slender plant, a bit like bamboo, that grows in India.

"The hard exterior can be used for firewood and the interior pith can be woven into fabric.

"I'm told you can even eat the leaves although they don't taste very nice."

You can see the attraction for companies looking for an alternative to plastic.

Jute is green and sustainable. Grown on small farms the jute is harvested and turned into bags in a factory just outside Calcutta employing 5,000 people.

Jutexpo do not own the factory but they do have a very close working relationship with the company that does.

'Sent to school'

It is Mr Turner's job to make sure the factory workers are treated ethically.

That includes using a dentist as a way to spot children using fake birth certificates to get jobs to bring in extra cash for their families.

According to Mr Turner, a dentist "is the most reliable way to make sure new workers aren't under age".

He adds: "If we did find child workers we would take them out of the factory and send them to school and offer their job to a member of their family instead.

"You have to replace that income for the family. It isn't enough just to remove any children that might slip through the net.

"You've got to think the consequences of doing that."

So far the dentist has not found any problems as part of Jutexpo's regular dental and indeed ethical check-ups.

In the meantime Jutexpo continues to grow although, as Mr Turner says, "it's not our name that goes on the bags; it's the supermarket's logo instead."

It looks like this will remain a secret success story.

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The bags are made in India