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Why We Went Global
The Waldorf schools try to make their education programs available to all people regardless of race, religion, and culture. Rather than becoming a homogenous, elitist group, Waldorf reaches out to all families and subsidizes the cost of enrollment for many families.
 Recognizing the need to cater to all income levels within the Waldorf community at first, Hestia Global (then Waldorf Wooden Toys) began searching for an alternative source for our wooden products. For years we crafted our toys in Canada and sold them throughout North America, but we always experienced pricing pressure. The costs to make our toys in Canada were keeping our toys out of reach of lower income families who wanted the products but could not afford them. Indeed, even the wealthy families found the prices high compared to other toys on the market.
In 2004, Philippe Lheureux was able to find a small factory in China that was making wooden toys. They were located in a small town, employed about 100 people and they were very eager to learn how to make Philippe’s toys. Over the course of the next 2 years they became quite adept at producing toys that met Philippe’s standards and eventually some of the production was shifted to their factory.
Not everything went smoothly, but lessons were learned all around, in Canada and in China as part of the normal business cycle. Where there were quality issues improvements were discussed and implemented which further strengthened the relationship. What began as one man’s passion developed into a business employing 5 people in Canada and a group of Chinese Nationals living on the other side of the world, collaborating and making successfully toys for the Waldorf community. This is a fine example of global commerce/ trade on a small scale.
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