At Biu we love what we do and have some basic principles, which are
- We love the bius. We choose each product personally, because we find them beautiful, and use them ourselves. Most of the bius are individual and handmade by local artisans from different tribes in Putumayo, Colombia.
- Products are fair. Bought at a fair price directly from source. Ideally knowing the Artisan itself, for sure knowing the tribe it is bought from. With the idea of increasing their visibility and supporting preservation of the ancestral cultures (territories, corruption, resource exploitation...)
- We keep it personal. The bius are bought personally from real people, send by real people to real people. That means, it can happen that at high demand we are sometimes out of stock if we haven't been to Colombia ourselves. Photoshoots are usually done with friends loving Biu. The Shipping can sometimes take longer, as we do the picking and sending manually within the family. For questions you will always have somebody to talk to via email, chat or phone. One vision we have is to bring together one day the artisans themselves and you in Europe, in the meanwhile we try to transmit the creation process via images and videos, and will always facilitate you direct contact with the Artisan where possible.
- We use no or recycled packaging. Where possible we use no packaging or re-use packaging from deliveries we or our friends and family receive. The idea is to reduce paper production. We'd rather use Biu resources to plant seeds then to cut trees.
- We are a constant work in progress. Since the idea of Biu was born, every day we learn, improve, adjust, correct, change, create. This can be Biu portfolio, website, communication, logistics, collaborations...Your feedback is welcome.
- More to come