In 2001 Jennifer Evans and I sold our business, 250 acre certified organic farm in Wisconsin and moved to Florida with the idea of starting a small business. We liked to travel and had the idea of something we could get into where we could travel and the business would pay for it. But the idea was very vague and what could we do or sell????
Recently installed in Vero we started to see the sights and on our 1st visit to the Environmental Learning Center we spotted an item that was to give us our start.

It was a very unique carving, carved from a nut found in South America. We began a search to find out more about this product and more about the people that produced it. Finding out about Palm Ivory or Tagua was a lot easier than finding out about the person (s) that carved it. Along the way we learned about Fair trade, sustainability, and about small artisans who are trying to compete in a global market. It took 6 to 8 months of searching to find this small group of carvers on the east coast of Ecuador, and the ex peace corp. worker that was trying to help them and build a small business of her own.
We started working together on a small scale; they looked for shipping methods and worked on quality we looked at markets and design, and learned about craftsmanship.
We had found our business. In the beginning of 2003 One World Imports Ltd. co was founded.

MISSION STATEMENT

To be conscious and knowledgeable of whom we buy from, where the materials come from and that what we sell has as little negative impact on our environment as possible.

PHILOSOPHY

Promote craftsmanship and an ideology that makes a better marketplace for artisans in underdeveloped countries. To promote natural, Fair Trade and sustainability in our endeavors.

THE BUSINESS

We are an import (export) business, licensed in Florida. We wholesale and retail in the State of Florida and surrounding counties as well as around the country. We sell fine hand crafted artisans work from all over the world. Currently we import from Ecuador, Colombia, Indonesia, Kenya, and Tibetans living in exile. And we also carry US products.

We are also members of the Craft Center at CHF International one of only 4 internationally recognized organizations dedicated to improving the lives of artisans by increasing their access to markets and resources. From our connection with this organization we have been able to increase the variety of the
products we offer.