Who's behind this, and why
I built CanGerard so that shopping online doesn't drain Catalonia
My name is Gerard. This site carries my name, so you know exactly who to call if something doesn't work. I built it for a fairly concrete reason. Buying online shouldn't mean the money leaves Catalonia.
Where the money ends up when you buy from a global platform
The route the money takes is no great mystery.
To start with, a very small part stays in the territory. The rest heads off to warehouses and to a parent company that is usually a long way from here. Often the seller is not the manufacturer, and has nothing to do with it: they bought imported stock to move it on at a margin.
The Catalan producer is barely there, drowned out by a vast supply of cheaper, lower-quality goods. Order by order, wages and shop rents stop being paid here that would have existed if the buyer had been able to find what they were looking for and buy it responsibly.
Two ways to spend €100
The same €100 travels very different roads depending on where you spend it.
Spent on a giant global platform
- Most of what you pay ends up outside Catalonia
- Often the seller imported the product rather than making it
- The work you sustain is in a factory a long way from you, under precarious conditions
- Profits are taxed wherever suits the company
Spent on the Catalan marketplace
- Everything you pay stays in the country, our commission included
- You buy from the person or company that made the product
- The jobs you sustain are at the workshop, the winery or the bakery
- Taxes are paid here, which is where the business is
Four things I won't negotiate on
These are the rules I apply when I review a shop before approving it.
100% Catalan, wherever possible
Every seller is a producer, an artisan or a company based in Catalonia. Anyone trying to get in to resell imports dressed up as Catalan produce won't pass the review. The only exception will be products that can't be found in Catalonia (which may be sold by official distributors).
The seller is the maker
You buy from the shop that made the product, or from its official distributor, and that same shop ships it to you.
Human approval
No shop can publish anything until I've checked that it exists, that its tax details are in order and that it is Catalan. It's slower than opening a shop anywhere else. We go slowly because we're going far.
No penalty for buying local
Shipping is handled by an ordinary courier and you track it from your account. If the product isn't quite right, you can send it back.
If you've read this far, you've got the idea
Below are the two possible paths. Buy what's already there or add what you make.