300th Fairtrade chocolate product is certified for Chocolate Week as sales of Fairtrade cocoa products grow by 24%
The Fairtrade Foundation has certified the 300th chocolate product to carry the FAIRTRADE Mark to coincide with Chocolate Week (13 – 19 October 2008).
The Foundation has also announced that sales of Fairtrade cocoa products for the quarter April to June 2008 grew by 24% from £5m to £6m for the same period last year. At the same time volume sales, the real indicator of the amount of Fairtrade premiums that go back to producer groups to spend on community development projects such as schools and clinics, have increased by 17%.
The landmark Fairtrade chocolate, Divine Marc de Champagne Milk Chocolate Truffles, consists of 16 hand-finished milk chocolate truffles with a champagne ganache and is the perfect choice to celebrate Chocolate Week in true style. The truffles are made from cocoa grown by cocoa farmers from Kuapa Kokoo co-operative, Ghana and are available in 200g boxes from Oxfam stores and ethical superstore.
Rachel King, Business Development Manager at the Fairtrade Foundation, said: ’You don’t usually need an excuse to eat chocolate, but here’s the perfect one to get you going: an entire week dedicated solely to chocolate! And you’ll find it all the sweeter for knowing that the farmers have received a fair price for their cocoa.’
Chocolate Week, the annual national celebration of chocolate, is sponsored by Divine Chocolate in collaboration with the Academy of Chocolate. There will be talks, tastings, demonstrations, launches of new chocolates, chocolate fountains and sculptures and foodies will be able to find out more about chocolate, its origins, cocoa beans, how it is made and also taste the finest chocolate in the world. More info from www.chocolate-week.co.uk/
Cocoa is an important world commodity, produced and consumed around the globe. However, the fluctuation of the world market price poses real obstacles to earning a decent livelihood for the millions of farmers working to cultivate cocoa on small family farms in equatorial regions. Many who live in villages lack access to clean water and health care and struggle to support their families.
Fairtrade guarantees farmers a minimum price for their cocoa, and the additional Fairtrade premium helps give them the opportunity to invest in tackling the issues they face. The first Fairtrade chocolate product went on sale in the UK in 1994. The Co-operative switched all their own label block chocolate to Fairtrade in 2002, resulting in a 50% sales volume uplift in the 12 months following the move. The Co-operative’s milk chocolate bar was the UK’s first own-brand FAIRTRADE Mark product launched in 2005. Currently, 21% of cocoa and 18% of dark chocolate sold by the major multiples is now Fairtrade.
Isidoro de la Rosa, from Conacado cocoa co-operative in the Dominican Republic said: ‘With Fairtrade income we were able to implement a fermentation programme to improve the quality of our cocoa and to convert our production to certified organic. This improved our position in the export market. The Fairtrade market is a very important market for the survival of our members.’
The Co-operative, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose, Tesco, Somerfield, Marks & Spencer and Morrisons all sell own brand Fairtrade chocolate lines and all list Divine chocolate and/or Maya Gold, Green & Black’s only Fairtrade certified product. A wide range of Fairtrade chocolate is also available online and through specialist wholesalers, delis and department stores such as Selfridges and Liberty. Both organic and conventional cocoa are available as Fairtrade, from a variety of beans sourced from West Africa and Latin America.
This year, Divine celebrates its 10th anniversary and the Co-operative celebrates its 5th year of category switch to Fairtrade.
Click here to read about the Kuapa Kokoo Union, which was founded in 1993 by a group of cocoa farmers and Twin Trading, a UK alternative trading organisation, as a response to the liberalisation of the cocoa market in Ghana.
Click here to read about the Toledo Cacao Growers’ Association (TCGA) represents around 200 organic cacao growers in Southern Belize, the poorest and most underdeveloped part of the country.
Click here for a full list of companies that sell cocoa or chocolate products with the FAIRTRADE Mark
Click here to visit the Chocolate Week website
Click here to visit the Divine website
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Notes to Editors
1. The FAIRTRADE Mark is a certification mark and a registered trademark of Fairtrade Labelling Organisations International (FLO) of which the Fairtrade Foundation is the UK member. The Fairtrade Foundation is an independent certification body which licenses the use of the FAIRTRADE Mark on products which meet international Fairtrade standards. This independent consumer label appears on products as a guarantee that disadvantaged producers are getting a better deal. Today, more than 7.5 million people - farmers, workers and their families - across 59 developing countries benefit from the international Fairtrade system.
2. Overall sales of Fairtrade products for the quarter April to June 2008 grew by 55% from an estimated retail value of £113m to £176m in the same period last year.
3. There are Fairtrade cocoa producer groups in Belize, Bolivia, Cameroon, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Ghana, Haiti, India, Ivory Coast, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, and Sierra Leone
4. Fairtrade chocolate comes in branded, block, boxed, season and count line chocolate forms, available from Artisan du Chocolat, BioFAIR, Burnt Sugar, Caley’s Choc-Affair, Chocaid.com, Creative Confectionary, Daylesford Organic, Delvaux, Divine, Doves Farm Foods, Dubble, House of Dorchester, Organica, Orgasmic, Plamil, Rainforest Friendly, Supercook, Traidcraft, Vegan Organica. Not forgetting own brand varieties from Oxfam, M&S, Sainsbury’s, Selfridges, Co-op, Waitrose, Tesco and Morrisons
5. Fairtrade suppliers include Ashbury Confectionery Ltd, Caley's of Norwich Ltd, CHARBONNEL ET WALKER LIMITED, Choc-Affair, Chocaid, Chocolala Ltd, Chocolat Stella SA, County Confectionery, Delvaux Ltd, Derwent Lynton Co. Ltd, Divine Chocolate Limited, Dove Farm Foods Ltd, Earth Conservation – Floralex, Glisten Confectionery, Green & Blacks, HERO UK LLP (SuperCook), House of Dorchester Ltd, J E Wilsons & Sons (Kendal) Ltd, Kernow Confectionery Ltd, , Kinnerton, Confectionery, L’artisan du Chocolat Ltd, LIR Chocolates Ltd, Michton Ltd, Organic Seed & Bean Co. , Plamil Foods Ltd, Sweet Temptations Ltd, The Burnt, Sugar Sweet Co. Ltd., The Greatest Store on Earth, The House of Sarunds Ltd, The Organic and Natural Food Co. Ltd, Traidcraft Plc, Venture Foods Ltd, Windmill Organics Ltd.