Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Oh happy day... Cadbury goes (partially) fairtrade!

I heard this morning that Cadbury® had finally got their long-awaited (by me, anyway) Fairtrade certification through on their plain Dairy Milk range of chocolate blocks and bars. Of course, I had to swing by the local consumer-mart to verify the rumours, and was delighted to return with... ahem... five blocks of the stuff.



Make that four. 


For me, this is thrilling news. Not because I'm passionate about Cadbury, but because I'm passionate about Fairtrade.


You probably already know what 'Fairtrade' is all about, but here's the wrap from the Australia/New Zealand Website:


Fairtrade is about better prices, 
decent working conditions, 
local sustainability, 
and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers in the developing world. 
By requiring companies to pay sustainable prices, 
Fairtrade addresses the injustices of conventional trade, 
which traditionally discriminates against the poorest, weakest producers. 
It enables them to improve their position and have more control over their lives.


This is PARTICULARLY important in the cocoa industry, where child trafficking and slavery continues to be rife.


Cadbury could, and should, still go a lot further in its efforts to source ethically-produced cocoa. However, it is still very exciting to see this move. Partly because the gauntlet has now been thrown down to other major companies to get onto the ethical bandwagon. But mostly because this means that the average Joe Consumer, for whom Fairtrade is an unknown or irrelevant concept, will still end up buying ethically-sourced chocolate. 


And furthermore, the many many people who ARE educated about the importance of choosing Fairtrade - the people who understand and grieve the horrible injustices that young children suffer for the sake of a measly bit of chocolate, yet who continue to be swayed more by their wallets than their conscience - will now also have a cheaper, more readily-available source of Fairtrade chocolate.


 I know how hard it is to value the living conditions of an unknown person in a far-off land over the lure of a cheaper and more readily available chocolate bar. In the last few years I've struggled with this temptation many times and failed. Hopefully, this move by Cadbury will make choosing the right option just a little easier for everyone.

16 comments:

  1. I didn't know that was on the cards, I vaguely heard a rumor ages ago, but didn't believe it. Whats the taste verdict??

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  2. Yay and hurrah indeed - it's a good start and sends a good message to lots of other big players in consumer land. Nic

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  3. Good news indeed and about time :) Kx

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  4. sweet, it's about time!

    isn't it amazing how not much has changed in the last 500 years regarding work on cocoa plantations - slavery still continues!

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  5. Yeah. Finally, hey!
    I do hope that it is the start of something good, and pushes the other companies into following suit.

    Only problem I can see is that it's milk chocolate - I'm still waiting for the dark chocolate.....
    (must admit that my wallet often does win out, but I did fork out $11 per massive organic Fairtrade eggs for the kids; lucky I only have two kids, hey!).

    Don't get sick on all your Fairtrade choc!

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  6. I saw that the other day. Great news! Haven't taste tested yet, but I trust it's good? Btw, Cadbury also own Green and Blacks, and the Maya Gold G&B's chocolate is fairtrade too. I like that one a *lot*!

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  7. Yay cadbury! ohhh I didnt know Cadburys own Green & Blacks. BTW you won my giveaway!Hop over & send me your address x

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  8. Excellent news... and I think they've stopped using Palm oil too.

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  9. Great news, thanks for sharing it.

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  10. Your so well informed on these issues Hun. It's a massive step which hopefully other big arse corporations will take a lesson from. We as individuals can only do so much (which is still a lot) but companies control so much more. Bring on the ethically produced chocolate guys!! It's the next step to a better, cleaner, yummier chocolate!!!

    xo Steph

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  11. Woo hoo!! Now I just need them to fair trade their dark chocolate range, and also their flavoured choc range. I have an inexplicable love for Snack Chocolate that I really want to satisfy again!!

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  12. We made a decision to go completely fairtrade this easter, which was actually easier than I expected, thanks to an Oxfam shop in a nearby shopping mall. Thankfully they have smaller (and cute animal) eggs, so that I could still spend our agreed small budget and get something that would appeal to the 2yo AND the 30something.

    I am thrilled that Cadbury have gone partially fairtrade, and that there are also one or two companies that have fairtrade products, but like others, I am waiting for the DARK fairtrade chocolate, and will continue to buy less of the more expensive ones. Maybe this is a good thing for my waistline??

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  13. Awesome! Everything you wrote was so spot on.

    This is a great reminder to THINK about where my chocolate comes from.

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  14. Just wanted to add that Cadbury uses sustainable palm oil. See the WWF website for more information (http://wwf.org.au/ourwork/land/land-clearing-and-palm-oil/WWF-Palm-Oil-Scorecard/?utm_source=Announcement&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=PalmOilScorecard).

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  15. I was so excited to see your spam-mail!!! Reading your posts about the whole fairtrade chocolate issue really made an impact on my thinking on chocolate and I decided that was it, not buying any non-fairtrade chocolate. The last couple of months we have only been eating green and blacks (and only a little bit at that because of the expensiveness - but good for the hips!)
    Now cadbury has gone and stuffed up my resolutions :P I've just got to keep the rations small - I don't know how that's going to go ;)

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