We have been sounding the alarm about Mondelez’s Cocoa Life program ever since the mega chocolate company announced its iconic brand Cadbury would drop fair trade in favor of Cocoa Life.
While we acknowledged that a company with as many supply chain and ethical issues as Mondelez may be best left out of the fair trade system, the greenwashing Cocoa Life program is not a viable or welcomed alternative. It is a corporate program that takes power away from farmers and focuses on yield, not income.
What we have advocated for is a guarantee of fair payments for farmers in West Africa, too many of whom are impoverished. Millions of children work in dangerous jobs in the West African cocoa sector. We will not eliminate this problem until we guarantee fair and sustainable prices that allow children to get an education rather than force them to work. This should be a baseline guarantee that all chocolate companies make, especially those with the profits and resources of Mondelez.
Yet instead, Mondelez is digging its heels in and churning up its PR. News came out recently that the latest Green & Black’s chocolate bar will be neither organic nor fair trade. Green & Black’s is the one chocolate brand of Mondelez that has been fully organic and fair trade. It is troubling that as it expands its product line, it turns to the inadequate Cocoa Life program and away from the established fair trade and organic standards.
Fair trade certification is not a perfect tool, but it is the one way that farmers are guaranteed a minimum price and a community development premium that they have complete control over. Cocoa Life does not guarantee a fair price and does not allow for a democratically controlled premium fund. Cocoa Life is a PR stunt for Mondelez and its brands.
Fair trade is a movement by and for farmer coops. Farmer coops in West Africa depend on fair trade markets and brands like Green & Black’s to honor its long-term relationships to them and not introduce a new program based on corporate profits rather than fair trade principles.
We’ve already collected signatures from thousands of consumers who stand with farmers and expect more from Mondelez and its brands like Cadbury and Green & Black’s.
Please reconsider. Farmers deserve fair wages. If you do not choose to do this, consider that having lost a long standing customer. I am sure others will follow and opt for different brands as well.
FAIR TRADE OR NO TRADE. NO CUSTOMERS WILL BE A SHOCK.
Please rethink your decision. You have the ability to positively impact so many farmers’ lives. Be the resource they need.
I will not continue to purchase your products if you abandon fair trade ,organic business practices.Comments
If you’re not going to be organic…..I won’t be buying your product !
If you’re not going to insure fair-trade…..I won’t be buying your product !
If you’re not going to be a company with integrity……
I WILL BE TALKING TO OTHERS AND ENCOURAGING THEM….TO NOT BUY YOUR PRODUCT !
Remember Marketing 101 principles…..”word of mouth, can hurt you !”
The snow glows white on the mountain tonight
Not a footprint to be seen
A kingdom of isolation
And it looks like I’m the queen
The wind is howling like this swirling storm inside
Couldn’t keep it in, heaven knows I tried
Don’t let them in, don’t let them see
Be the good girl you always have to be
Conceal, don’t feel, don’t let them know
Well, now they know
Let it go, let it go
Can’t hold it back anymore
Let it go, let it go
Turn away and slam the door
I don’t care what they’re going to say
Let the storm rage on
The cold never bothered me anyway
It’s funny how some distance makes everything seem small
And the fears that once controlled me can’t get to me at all
It’s time to see what I can do
To test the limits and break through
No right, no wrong, no rules for me
I’m free
Let it go, let it go
I am one with the wind and sky
Let it go, let it go
You’ll never see me cry
Here I stand and here I stay
Let the storm rage on
My power flurries through the air into the ground
My soul is spiraling in frozen fractals all around
And one thought crystallizes like an icy blast
I’m never going back, the past is in the past
Let it go, let it go
And I’ll rise like the break of dawn
Let it go, let it go
That perfect girl is gone
Here I stand in the light of day
Let the storm rage on
The cold never bothered me anyway
fair trade and organic! that’s why i buy your product!
Fair wages for farmers- or I will buy elsewhere.
yas queen