A New Era for Chocolate and West African Cocoa Farmers?
Cadbury’s UK announced their intention this week to convert approximately 20% of their chocolate range to Fair trade, joining Divine Chocolate on a journey we started 10 years ago.
Seventy percent of the world’s cocoa comes from West Africa. Big chocolate companies such as Cadbury’s have been sourcing from the region for a century. While Ghana cocoa has developed a global reputation for its quality, cocoa farmers remain poor and unable to access the true value of what they create.
Divine is delighted that Cadbury is joining us in saying that the current way of working is neither sustainable nor fair. Together we can create a step change, where the very least companies should do is pay a Fair Trade price for the ingredients they buy, and that anything less is just not acceptable.
Today is the 52nd anniversary of Ghana achieving independence from colonial rule. We wonder whether this anniversary marks another historic moment for West Africa. Is this the new era of fairness in the chocolate industry, of real partnership between chocolate brands and the cocoa farmers who help make chocolate great?
We believe that it will be so – with your support.
My challenge to you is this:
- If you’re planning on purchasing chocolate, use your purchasing power to support Fair Trade for cocoa farmers. You can find a full list of Fair Trade chocolate brands at www.fairtradecertified.org
- Ask for Divine Chocolate and other Fair Trade products whenever and wherever you shop.
And – I invite you to join in our celebration of this new age of fairness for cocoa farmers. Enter to win a gorgeous Divine Chocolate basket. Share it with your friends and family and ask them to join in and to make trade sweet for cocoa farmers!
-Erin Gorman, Divine Chocolate
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March 6, 2009 at 10:56 pm
As ONE person who has been purchasing and enjoying Divine Chocolate for years and as someone who has often posted in the ONE Blog about the horrific working & living conditions for the children who harvest the cacao beans on NON Fair Trade cacao bean plantations, I want to thank Erin for this lovely piece on Divine Chocolate and the TERRIFIC NEWS of Cadbury’s decision to become much more of a fair trade partner than most mainstream chocolate manufacturers.
I think that we are making progress on this issue of economic and social justice for Africa’s cacao bean industry, just as we did a few years ago with Starbucks and the Ethiopian coffee bean farmers!
A beautiful Fair Trade Chocolate Easter Bunny for all.~
ALWAYS FOREVER, ONE – debbie
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