Green and Black's Chocolate Goes 100% Fair Trade

Green and Black's, the company which pioneered the Fair Trade chocolate movement and has been a leading producer of organic chocolate for years, announced today that it will move to using 100% Fair Trade cocoa in all its products in all markets.

This includes the U.S., which has been left out of some recent Fair Trade switches from larger manufacturers like Nestle. And since Green and Black's is a brand available in many grocery stores in the U.S., this move means the market of Fair Trade chocolate will be opened up to many Americans who would have had to go to specialty stores to buy ethical chocolate before. Right now, my inner choco-holic is dancing!

Today’s commitment from Green and Black's, which is owned by Cadbury (and now Kraft, by extension) comes on the heels of great concern that the recent Cadbury-Kraft merger would result in Kraft dropping Cadbury's significant commitments to Fair Trade. This change will mean more than $485,000 each year over the next 10 years for small, organic cocoa farmers and their communities in the Dominican Republic. Green and Black’s has been buying organic cocoa beans from cooperatives in the Dominican Republic for over a decade, and these farmers are now the main source of cocoa for Green & Black’s. The Dominican Republic, like most other countries which produce cocoa, has seen the brutality of child slavery and forced labor in the production of cocoa. But the new Fair Trade certification will help ensure that all the workers on those farms Green and Black's buy from are paid a living wage, and that no children are exploited in the production of cocoa for their candy. By making this switch, Green and Black's is sending a clear message to would-be exploiters in the cocoa industry: we'll take our products un-tainted by slavery, thank you.

While it's revolutionary, Green & Black’s commitment to Fair Trade isn't new. They created the Maya Gold chocolate bar over 15 years ago, which was the first ever Fair Trade product in the United Kingdom. Currently, the Maya Gold Bar is already Fair Trade Certified in the U.S. market. All other Green & Black's bars in the U.S. will start using the Fair Trade certified cocoa by mid 2010, with 100 percent conversion to Fair Trade by the end of this year. But consumers take note: to avoid waste, Green and Black's have decided to use all their existing packaging (without the Fair Trade certified label) before creating new packaging with the label. So your Green and Black's bar might be Fair Trade even before it's labeled as such!

Green and Black's has done their part to end human trafficking by creating a market for ethically-produced cocoa. Now it's time for you to do your part and prove to Green and Black's and all the other chocolate companies that going Fair Trade isn't just the right thing to do ethically, it's the smart thing to do financially. Here's what you can do: go out today and buy a Green and Black's bar. Ask the vending company at your office to stock Green and Black's in your machine. Use Green and Black's the next time you bake cookies. There are so many possibilities.

Making Green and Black's sales grow over the next few months does more than just reward a company for making an ethical choice, it inspires other companies to do the same. And when we as consumers come together to demand Fair Trade cocoa, we vote with our money against slavery and trafficking and exploitation and for freedom, fair pay, and healthy working conditions. So now the only burning question that remains is: a Green and Black's bar with nuts or without?

Photo credit: dramatic