Fair Trade Stirrings From Newly Sold Cadbury

by Nathaniel Whittemore · 2010-01-28 06:29:00 UTC
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If we're still yet to fully see how Kraft's recent purchase of U.K. chocolate legend Cadbury will affect the company's stellar fair trade practices -- for good or ill -- at least one part of the Cadbury family is continuing to push for more equitable practices.

This morning, Green & Black's, which is owned by Cadbury but run as an independent company, announced that it would be converting its entire worldwide line, including that which it sells in the U.S., to fair trade.

This is a big move, and one that positions Green & Black's, which began selling its products in the U.S. in 2007 and is currently the leading manufacturer in the natural chocolate market, as a world leader in both organic and fair trade chocolate.

By taking these kinds of stands, small but successful firms like Green & Black's -- especially when part of a well-recognized brand like Cadbury -- push their whole industry to get better by demonstrating consumer demand for socially responsible products.

And coming after Kraft's purchase of Cadbury, today's announcement has just the right kind of timing. The fair trade movement needs both moral and market arguments to get mass adoption, and Green & Black's latest announcement demonstrates that a company with a significant presence thinks fair trade is both a moral and smart market move.

Let's hope Kraft takes the move as evidence of why the company should not only sustain, but expand, Cadbury's commitments to the fair trade market.

Photo Credit: Chocolate Reviews

Nathaniel Whittemore is the founder of Assetmap. Previously he was the founding director of the Northwestern University Center for Global Engagement.
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