The University Bookstore is offering fair trade sweatshirts for the first time, kicking off sales last week.

The sweatshirts are produced by Fair Indigo, a local company from Middleton with a retail store at Hilldale Mall. The company says it ensures all factory workers are paid “good” wages and working in “good” conditions. The products are made using organically grown cotton, eco-friendly chemicals, dyes and no pesticides. 

“We have visited that facility ourselves, and I would be happy to send anyone there to see it. This place is amazing in terms of how comfortable they make it,” said Rob Behnke, co-founder and vice president of merchandising for Fair Indigo. “We are very proud to work with them.” 

According to Dawn Crim, labor licensing policy committee coordinator for the chancellor, former Chancellor John Wiley said he wanted to ensure the goods and services of UW are made in the best possible conditions.

“We have tried to back that up by finding retailers that are making clothes in a fair trade way,” Crim said. “For us, we are excited to offer socially responsible clothing.”

The sweatshirt is not the only fair trade item offered at the bookstore, however. A line of T-shirts launched last winter by Counter Source Inc. is also available, Crim added. 

While Fair Indigo has been selling fair trade apparel for quite some time, this is the first time the company will sell collegiate apparel, Behnke said.

According to Kevin Phelps, vice president of the UW Bookstore, the sweatshirts benefit students because they allow them to know where the products are made, who makes them and how they were made, thus letting them feel better about the investment they are making.

Because the sweatshirts are fair trade, there are some reservations that they will be more expensive. However, Phelps said there are small differences between the conventional cotton products, adding that, at times, conventional cotton sweatshirts are more expensive than the fair trade sweatshirts.  

Behnke said Fair Indigo attempts to keep prices as competitive as possible by lowering administrative and marketing costs. 

The sweatshirt can be purchased at the bookstore for $49.95. Phelps added other apparel such as long-sleeve shirts and sweatpants will be available by this time next year.