Press Release - March 2009
Cadbury and the Fairtrade Foundation today announced plans to
achieve Fairtrade certification for Cadbury Dairy Milk, the
nation’s top selling chocolate bar, by end of Summer 2009.
This groundbreaking move will result
in the tripling of sales of cocoa under Fairtrade terms for cocoa
farmers in Ghana, both increasing Fairtrade cocoa sales for
existing certified farming groups, as well as opening up new
opportunities for thousands more farmers to benefit from the
Fairtrade system.
Cadbury Chief Executive, Todd Stitzer, says, “This is an historic
moment for our company. I am proud that the nation’s favourite
chocolate bar will display the FAIRTRADE Mark. I was in Ghana
last month and saw how vital it is that businesses support their
partners and the communities they live in. We believe that by
joining forces with the Fairtrade Foundation, we can further
improve living standards and conditions for farmers and farming
communities, and create a sustainable supply of high quality cocoa
for Cadbury.”
“Cadbury’s commitment is breakthrough news for the farmers in Ghana
who are very excited that they will be able to sell more of their
cocoa as Fairtrade, bringing greater benefits to their
communities,” says Harriet Lamb, Chief Executive of the Fairtrade
Foundation. “We’re delighted to have the opportunity to
certify Cadbury Dairy Milk, enabling all those who buy it to make a
real difference for cocoa farmers with every purchase. This
certainly sets a new standard for the mainstream chocolate
industry.”
The move, which also includes Cadbury’s hot chocolate beverage,
marks the first anniversary of the Cadbury Cocoa Partnership (CCP),
a historic initiative in which Cadbury is investing £45 million
over the next ten years to secure the sustainable socio-economic
future of cocoa farming in Ghana, India, Indonesia and the
Caribbean where the cocoa farming industry is facing increasing
challenges.
The company has committed to the Fairtrade certification of Cadbury
Dairy Milk for the whole of the British and Irish markets.
The move will mean that the millions of Cadbury Dairy Milk
consumers will be able to enjoy Fairtrade ingredients in their
favourite chocolate bar, while the taste stays the same. Ghanaian
cocoa is recognised as the highest quality cocoa on the market, and
the cocoa beans used in Cadbury chocolate across the UK and Ireland
– including Cadbury Dairy Milk – are sourced from Ghanaian
farmers.
Todd Stitzer adds, “By working together, the Fairtrade Foundation
and Cadbury believe we can get more people in the UK to buy
Fairtrade products and achieve more for this cause than we ever
could individually. This Fairtrade initiative is part of our
ongoing commitment to cocoa farmers in Ghana where we originally
established cocoa farms 100 years ago and last year launched the
Cadbury Cocoa Partnership - after all, what’s good for the farmers
is good for our customers and our business.”
The Fairtrade Foundation sees this as just a first step in a long
partnership to improve livelihoods for cocoa growers. Harriet
Lamb continues, “The Fairtrade Foundation set out an ambitious
strategy last year to double its positive impact for producers by
2012, by opening up opportunities for more and more farmers to join
the system, and for those already in the system to be able to sell
more under Fairtrade conditions. It is precisely this kind of
big commitment by a major player such as Cadbury that could make it
possible to achieve these goals.”
The Fairtrade Foundation and its international partner
certification body, FLO-Cert, will be independently monitoring and
auditing the supply chain against internationally agreed Fairtrade
standards.
Last month Harriet Lamb and Todd Stitzer visited the Eastern Region
of Ghana. Together, they spoke to farmers about the
modern-day difficulties of cocoa farming and discussed how
increasing stability of cocoa earnings through stronger farmers’
organisations and Fairtrade certification could deliver significant
improvements to livelihoods, enabling farmers both to implement
sustainable agricultural practices and to improve life in the wider
community.
Benjamin Atiemo lives in Adjeikrom village, one of the places where
cocoa farmers will now be working together to achieve Fairtrade
certification. He expressed his concern about the future of cocoa
farming in the area, saying that unless farming practices improve
so farmers can increase their yields and incomes, young people will
drift to the cities, where, without skills or education, they may
end up unemployed and aimless.
Fairtrade certification will be a further extension of Cadbury’s
CCP programme, which will now also support farmers, like those of
Adjeikrom, to become organised in groups with democratic structures
so that they can achieve Fairtrade certification against
internationally agreed social, environmental and economic
standards, and trade with the company on Fairtrade terms.
Cadbury will also be sourcing cocoa from Kuapa Kokoo, one of the
first groups to be Fairtrade certified, with over 40,000 registered
cocoa farmers across Ghana. Although they are currently only
selling a small percentage of their cocoa as Fairtrade, they have
been able to implement community projects like building primary
school classrooms, constructing wells, and investing in corn mills.
Now Kuapa Kokoo will have the opportunity to sell cocoa to Cadbury
on Fairtrade terms, which will increase their Fairtrade premiums,
and therefore the range of farmer support and community development
programmes they can implement.
-ENDS-