I was very excited to receive an email from Cadbury Chief Executive Officer Todd Stitzer a couple of days ago. Todd wanted to tell me, and probably thousands of others, that Cadbury has raised the competitive bar of social responsibility chocolates by launching Fairtrade Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate bars into the United Kingdom chocolate bar market. The bars are now available in 200,000 stores across England and Ireland and will increase the value of of U.K. Fairtrade sales by around 25% over 2008 sales. Cadbury’s fairtrade bars are being made available at no extra cost.
Cadbury already sells Fair Trade and/or organic chocolates in the U.S. under the Green and Black’s label but their Dairy Milk Chocolate is not a big seller here. Todd noted in his email that Cadbury is making a substantial investment in sustainable cocoa growing communities and has a long history of social responsibiltiy.
What Mr. Spitzer (I feel a little too forward with this first name basis stuff) says is true. In fact, it’s true for a number of chocolate makers. Hershey’s history of social responsibility begins with the 100 year old Milton Hershey School. Mars has a long history of supporting cocoa communities and ensuring that cocoa is grown in an environmentally friendly manner. And the World Cocoa Foundation, founded in 2000, is supported by more than 70 companies and trade associations, including NCA. WCF programs raise farmer incomes, encourage responsible, sustainable cocoa farming and strengthen communities.
This announcement makes me feel good about the companies for whom I work. Do you want to try Fair Trade certified Cadbury Dairy Milk Chocolate?
Cadbury Chocolate by Tasumi1968.
3:44 pm on July 27th, 2009
I do want to try Cadbury’s Fair Trade Certified Dairy Milk bar, but I ALSO would love to taste Fair Trade Certified Hershey bars and M&Ms and more from US chocolate companies. This post is a little misleading because Cadbury is starting to source from Fair Trade Certified cocoa cooperatives to make their chocolate when companies like Hershey and Mars are NOT sourcing cocoa for their main products from Fair Trade Certified producers. In fact, Hershey hasn’t agreed to any sustainable cocoa certification programs. In order to ensure that the cocoa in a specific company’s product or supply chain is meeting certain standards and that cocoa farmers are getting a fair price, companies need to commit to third-party certification programs, especially Fair Trade. Cadbury is certainly leading the way in ethical cocoa sourcing and I hope that companies like Hershey, Nestle and Mars will follow Cadbury’s lead by also committing to using Fair Trade Certified cocoa in their major product lines — especially since Hershey owns the license to produce Cadbury products for the US market.
3:54 pm on July 27th, 2009
Thanks for your comment Tim. We’re pleased to know you read our blog.
Reasonable people can disagree and we at NCA stand by our statement that fair trade is one of many ways to grow cocoa in a sustainable manner to the benefit of cocoa communities around the world.
Susan
4:27 pm on July 27th, 2009
Hi Tim,
To echo Susan’s thoughts, we’re really glad to know you read the blog. However, I wanted to point out our comment policy – http://candydishblog.com/about/. When you’re posting as a spokesperson from an organization, we’d like to make sure our readers can tell that in your comment. We really like to get a variety of views and opinions about our blog entries, but we want to make sure our readers understand what’s being said and who’s saying it. Thanks!
4:33 pm on July 27th, 2009
I believe there is a big difference between the commitment made by Cadbury and that of the U.S. chocolate makers.
The fairtrade certification provides not only a guaranteed minimum price for cocoa farmers, it also guarantees a social premium of $150/ton that is used by the cocoa growing cooperation for their social development purposes.
Cadbury’s decision will provide at least $1.5 million dollars of social premium for development projects directed by the cocoa growers themselves.
None of the U.S. chocolate makers have committed to anything that comes even close. For example, the recent Mars announcement to seek Rainforest Alliance certification, provides no clear monetary benefits.
I’d love to see U.S. manufacturers follow the example set by Cadbury.
11:56 am on July 28th, 2009
That’s great for Cadbury!
I just wanted to say that although some (mostly the big) chocolate companies may not be giving back or have not committed to what Cadbury is doing, there are chocolate companies who are.
We (ESC), for example, are no longer certified fair trade, but our cocoa is 100% ethically traded. Philosophically, ethical trade and fair trade are one in the same. We buy our cocoa from small properties, helping sustain the habitats and communities they are in, and our farmers are ensure humane working conditions and a fair price for their cocoa or wage.
We also give back 10% of our net profits to help support species, habitat, and humanity!
There are (chocolate) companies in the US who have decided to give back and do the right thing, and we are proud to be one of them!
Amanda Chau
Endangered Species Chocolate
12:31 pm on July 28th, 2009
Thanks for your comments Amanda. And yes, I agree with you that many companies, including Endangered Species Chocolate, are working to help cocoa farm families have a better life.
2:19 pm on July 28th, 2009
It’s great to see Cadbury’s doing the right thing!
Fair trade may not be the solution to end poverty in the developing world, but it certainly has done more than alternative ideas or movements. Unfortunately, the credit crisis has adversely affected the fair trade movement. Just like businesses in the North, fair trade businesses in the developing world need access to fair financing for such things as overcoming temporary shortfalls in cash flow or term loans for capital equipment.
Unfortunately there are few (if any) financing options available and as a result we are starting to see seemingly vibrant fair trade businesses beginning to fail.
Shared Interest is a co-operative lending society and world’s only 100% fair trade lender that aims to reduce poverty in the world by providing fair and just financial services. We work with fair trade businesses all over the world, both producers and buyers, providing credit to help them trade and develop. If you would like to learn how you can invest in fair trade, I would like to encourage you to visit our website or send me an email.
2:53 pm on August 2nd, 2009
This posting raises quite a few issues and I am fascinated by the comparison between the UK and the US markets.
Make no mistake, this is a huge commitment from Cadburys. They are in this for the very long term. The Cadbury family have a history of helping others and treating their workforce properly. They even built a village with decent housing and excellent facilities for the workers of their first factory. that village, called Bourneville, still exists and has been studied by people around the world.
Yes, Fairtrade is not perfect, but this initiative will help Cadburys, their suppliers and their consumers.
3:21 pm on February 10th, 2010
I love Cadbury!