94% of Untouched World products are New Zealand made, but the other 6% is just as important to us as our local production. All of our supply chain partners are carefully chosen according to our brand values and Joyya is no different – they are the manufacturers who we entrust with making our Project U collections, the profits from which help to fund the Untouched World Foundation. Our aim is to have a positive impact and everything we do and Project U and our partnership with Joyya is another strand to that impact.

Who is Joyya?

Joyya is a Fairtrade certified manufacturer, which was founded in Kolkata, India, in 2001 when three companies merged to become one larger force. The aim was to work together to tackle what they describe as the “horror” of extreme poverty and human trafficking. By operating four Fairtrade certified factories across different communities, Joyya is able to provide fair and decent work to women who have been marginalised by poverty and trafficking. They pay all employees a living wage and offer many other benefits including professional development and management opportunities, vocational training, literacy and money management classes, interest-free loans for debt payments, health education and emotional support, and access to retirement and health plans.

The part of Joyya that manufactures our Project U products is the business arm of the organisation but it also has a collective which helps to deliver social change and a neighbourhood-based arm which is all about working within neighbourhoods to support them towards common goals.

Joyya’s wider reaching impacts include installing a ‘water ATM’ which dispenses free safe drinking water, providing drop-in health clinics, providing funds for school fees, offering interest-free loans for housing, and organising social groups to bring the communities they work in moments of fun and joy.

Why we partner with Joyya

All of the above goes a long way to explain why we count Joyya among our trusted supply chain partners. In partnering with them on our Project U products, we can support their work and in turn support marginalised women in building a life they deserve. The difference Joyya makes to their employee’s lives simply can’t be understated, as demonstrated by Kakuli’s story:

Kakuli’s mother worked in the red light district, so Kakuli had just one aim in life: to move her family to a better place. She joined Joyya as an employee in 2010 and since then she has been able to move her family and has become a supervisor. “I was living a life of difficulty and poverty. I received an opportunity and now not only me but my family can live a life of dignity and respect.”

On top of the incredible social change they enact, Joyya manufactures in a way that aligns with how we do things in New Zealand. Alongside being Fairtrade certified, they use GOTS certified 100% organic cotton and non-toxic water-based inks, and they have many certifications relating to health and safety, pollution control, and sustainable sourcing.

Joyya in numbers

• In the last three years, Joyya has increased wages for entry level staff by 16%.
• During 2022-2023, Joyya supplied 35 interest-free loans to enable staff to make home repairs and improvements.
• In the same period, Joyya Collective provided over 720 hours of free medical clinics, 18,500 hours of vocational training, and 41,550 hours of education.
• During 2022 to 2023, we have sold 1,886 Project U Tees, helping to transform the lives of Joyya employees.

Explore our Project U collection to support the women and families of Joyya and to fund the educational work of the Untouched World Foundation. To learn more about the UWF, read our journal entry all about it here.