Thinking aloud about Fair Trade chocolate and Kraft

2010-01-28

Hurrah for Green and Blacks to announce that all of their chocolate was going to be fair trade by the end of the year, I thought to myself as I munched a bar of Maya Gold and read the Guardian article to find out it was the first chocolate bar to be certified Fair Trade. Perhaps is was the cocoa but I couldn't help wondering about the timing - G&B's is owned by Cadburys, that has announced a similar move (Dairy Milk already, others to follow) - and the latter has of course just been betrothed to Kraft foods.

Now, I'm no politician but I can almost imagine the board room conversation where either or both brands decided it was now or never to go fair trade, given that the big nasty conglomerate would be unlikely to take such a bold step. It would also be difficult to unravel without adverse PR and loss of sales. So, we have the public announcement, whether Kraft likes it or not.

A little bit of browsing later and it seems that the nasty conglomerate has already made a start. Suchard hot chocolate and Kenco coffee already boast rainforest certification. Now, all we need is for Toblerone, Terry's, Cote D'Or and Daim to do the same, and we'd really be cooking.