Tell Kraft Not to Destroy Cadbury's Ethical Policies

Cadbury, the UK-based candy company, has long been a leader in the world of corporate social responsibility (CSR), especially in buying Fair Trade cocoa and working to reduce exploitation in their supply chains. But all their good work is in danger of being reversed with one swipe of a pen, as international conglomerate Kraft attempts to buy Cadbury.

In comparison to Cadbury's CSR record, Kraft's is dismal. The good news is, Cadbury stockholders are trying to block the sale, partially out of fear that Cadbury's commitment to CSR will be dropped under Kraft leadership. You can tell Kraft that if they want Cadbury, they had better adopt all of Cadbury's CSR policies.

Cadbury has received international recognition for being one of the first companies to commit to using Fair Trade chocolate in a flagship product, the Dairy Milk bar. They have committed to making Fair Trade Dairy Milk bars available in the UK, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, and consider all their CSR policies to stem from their view of themselves as an "ethics-led" company. As Cadbury has stated in their formal defense and rejection of Kraft's offer, one of the reasons the idea of a merger is unattractive is Kraft's poor record on developing proactive and substantive corporate social responsibility guidelines. Cadbury worries, as do all of us committed to ending slavery and exploitation in the cocoa industry, that a merger with Kraft will mean that Cadbury is no longer able to keep its commitments to ethical buying.

But Kraft now has a unique opportunity to do what is both best for their business and the most responsible thing -- adopt Cadbury's CSR policies and continue to grow their commitments to ethical sourcing. Doing so would reduce concerns from both Cadbury shareholders and the public that Kraft will destroy all of Cadbury's hard work in the CSR field.

Specifically, Kraft should agree to the following:

• continue to expand the purchase of Fair Trade certified cocoa over the next decade and increase the availability of consumer products made with Fair Trade certified cocoa;
• commit to continuing and expanding Cadbury's commitment to make Fair Trade certified chocolate bars and other products available;
• adopt Cadbury's Human Rights and Ethical Trading (HRET) policy;
• and continue Cadbury's Purple Goes Green initiative;

You can email the Irene Rosenfeld, CEO of Kraft, here, and tell them to do the right thing for their bottom line and yours -- commit to Cadbury's CSR policies.

Photo credit: Chocolate Reviews