To our community:

Thank you for all you do to come alongside the work of Handspun Hope in Rwanda through the purchasing of our handmade products. Whether buying for your homes, friends or your own shops, your support is vital in sustaining our mission of empowering women in Rwanda through dignified employment and holistic care. 

As a valued member of our family, we wanted to take a moment to share with you some important shifts in our (1) pricing and (2) product availability / sales strategy that are rolling out next month.

Over the past few years, the world has changed significantly for all of us. At Handspun Hope, we have not been immune to the rising costs of materials, shipping and labor that have resulted. These rising costs apply not only to our production operations, but also to the basic cost of living for those we employ. Prices are just simply higher everywhere: in Rwanda, the U.S. and beyond. 

With rising costs comes an increased need for employment, especially in developing communities. This means that our team has also been navigating how to best operationally support a growing number of women under our employ. 

Given these rising pressures, we have been prayerfully considering how to better position our organization—and those we serve—for long-term sustainability. Since the beginning, our commitment has always been to offer hope to women in our community through meaningful work. To honor this commitment and secure the working futures of the 209 women we employ, we will be implementing the following pricing and product shifts beginning April 1, 2023.

Price Increase

While we have done our best to mitigate rising costs, we simply can’t put it off any longer. Effective April 1, 2023 our yarn product line will undergo a price increase across both wholesale and retail channels. 

This price increase will allow us to better cover product costs and continue paying fair, salaried wages. Additionally, we hope it will also allow us to plan for future raises for the women, to also better enable them to face the changing economy. 

New retail* yarn pricing per skein will be as follows:

• Standard Organic Merino Wool (DK, Worsted, Bulky, Super Bulky) + Handspun Ethiopian Cotton: $32

• Organic Merino Wool, Natural Black: $39

• Madagascar Wild Boracera Silk: $28

Our Organic Angora + Merino Blend will stay the same at $64 retail. Wholesale yarn will be discounted 50% from retail prices.

Product Availability + Sales Channel Shifts

Last year we announced Sustaining Hope, a five-year organizational development plan poised to move us towards greater long-term financial sustainability as an organization. It’s part of our efforts to more seamlessly navigate the added operational and financial needs required by ethically employing 209 women full-time. (Read more about the fully Sustaining Hope plan here.)

Part of this plan requires reorganizing our product availability and sales structure, which will ultimately set us up to: (1)  create more manageable workloads for all staff, (2) guarantee salaried employment through covering rising costs and (3) establish a more practical infrastructure to ensure the health of our organization for years to come. 

Below are updates that will be coming to the outlined product lines and sales channels:

KNITWEAR

We will be discontinuing a majority of our knitwear line via both wholesale and retail channels outside of Rwanda. While we value the craftsmanship and beauty of our knit pieces, the reality is that they require significant human resources, making it difficult to effectively manage our other product lines with quality. Select knitwear accessories will still be available for retail on our website.

How does this impact the knitting department at Handspun Hope?

We deeply value the skillset of our knitting team, which is composed of experts with more than 128 years of combined knitting experience. The knitting team will remain employed with Handspun Hope, but rather focus on creating accessory pieces such as hats and gloves that will be available for sale online, directly to consumers.  Additionally, the knitters will continue to work on knitwear orders that are local to Rwanda.

FELTING

All felted sculptures and ornaments will be sold primarily** via direct-to-consumer retail  channels. We believe that everyone should be able to afford and enjoy handmade items, and by removing the wholesale structure on felted items, we will be able to reduce these prices without compromising fair artisan wages. 

 **For wholesale customers who would still like to order higher quantities for stores, a discount is available with an initial annual order minimum of $500. Contact us for pricing information.

WHOLESALE MINIMUMS + PRODUCT ELIGIBILITY

We are introducing a standard order minimum of $500 for all initial wholesale orders each year. There is no minimum quantity per product or variant, so long as the $500 minimum is achieved. Once a client’s $500 minimum order has been placed each year, all subsequent orders for the remainder of the year will have no minimum requirements.  

Product lines now eligible for standard wholesale include yarn, buttons and select project bags. Felted items may also be purchased in volume and contribute toward the $500 wholesale minimum, though note the pricing structure will differ from standard wholesale (see above).