Changes and chocolates – Fairtrade, Cadbury and the church

By Tom Mitchard
New Times Intern

Posted Dec  7, 2016 in News

Uniting Church synods, presbyteries, organisations and congregations across Australia have long been supporters of Fairtrade. The Fairtrade logo is awarded to products that meet strict working condition and payment standards, ensuring fair terms of trade for farmers and other workers in developing countries. Amongst those products marked with Fairtrade’s stamp of approval are some of Cadbury’s most well-loved chocolate treats.

But a recent announcement from Cadbury has thrown many into shock and confusion. In November, news sources reported Cadbury’s intention to withdraw from the Fairtrade scheme in favour of their own Cocoa Life sustainability program. This means the Fairtrade stamp will slowly disappear from the front of Cadbury products across the world.

Many have criticised this decision, worried about accountability and about how this decision may affect the Fairtrade scheme overall. But both Cadbury and Fairtrade have tried to communicate the positive effects of this change.

Although the Fairtrade logo will be replaced with Cocoa Life on the front of all packaging, the Fairtrade logo will continue to be used on the back or products to indicate the partnership between Fairtrade and Cocoa Life.

According to the Fairtrade website, through this partnership they hope to drive “greater scale and impact for cocoa farmers and their communities”. The plan is for all Cadbury products in the United Kingdom and Ireland to be marked with the Cocoa Life brand by 2019. This will also be rolled out internationally, and is is expected that Australia will begin to see these changes in 2018.

Stop the Traffik, a group supported by the Uniting Church and dedicated to working against human trafficking, were quick to spread the news of Cadbury’s decision. While initially worried, many feel the promises being made by Cocoa Life are admirable.

Fuzz Kitto, the national Coordinator of Stop the Traffik Australia, recently witnessed the Cocoa Life program in action in Côte d'Ivoire. He shared reflections on the Cadbury development on the Stop the Traffik Australia Facebook page.

“In the Cocoa Life program, they use [a] Fairtrades Assessment company – Flocert – to third party certify that what they are doing is up the the certifcation standards met by Fairtrade.The only difference is that the premium that Fairtrade give to the co-ops that certify with them is not there,” Fuzz writes.*

“However, what [the] Cocoa Life program gives to the community in community development, educational resources, and all the other things that are worked out with local communities is much higher than what is given through the Fairtrade.”

More information will be provided as the Cocoa Life program is rolled out across Cadbury products internationally and in Australia.

Uniting Church SA congregations and faith communities interested in researching sustainable cocoa and chocolate production are encouraged to visit the Stop the Traffik website. A report on this topic will be released by Stop the Traffik Australia in March 2017 to help members of the church and wider community make ethical choices when purchasing chocolate over Easter.

*Minor typos in Fuzz’s writing have been edited for clarity.

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