Ethical indulgence?
In the UK we each consume 7kg of chocolate every year. Nicola Scott finds out if we can fulfil our
chocolate cravings ethically...
An end to child labour?
When Ethical Consumer last reported on chocolate in 2002
(EC 79), shocking evidence of slave labour within cocoa plantations in the Ivory Coast had emerged and the
global chocolate industry was scrutinised when its links to these exploitative operations were identified.
Five years since these atrocities came to light, has the sector changed to meet consumer demands for fairly
produced and traded chocolate?
In 2001 the industry declared its support for the Harken-Engel Protocol to voluntarily eliminate child
slavery from cocoa production by July 2005. However, the US-based NGO Global Exchange(2) states that "despite
the good intentions behind these efforts, none ensures the minimum price producers need, and none involves
the independent certification that consumers want".
(2} This opinion clearly manifests in ECRA's product table,
with the three biggest chocolate companies in the UK(3) all scoring badly in the supply chain policy column.
As these three companies account for 80% of the total UK chocolate confectionery market,(3) an improvement
in their supply chain policy would bring significant changes to cocoa producers' lives.
Fairtrade and organic products
Rather than wait for sector leaders to initiate ethical changes in their production processes, a number of small and independent companies offering ethical and environmental alternatives have flourished. All score very well in our table. They reflect increasing consumer awareness of fair trade products,(4) and consumer interest in buying organic chocolate with a higher cocoa mass. The UK's Soil Association states that its certified organic chocolate includes more cocoa solids than non-organic chocolate.(5) Furthermore, it claims that organic cocoa production helps the environment "through the use of shade trees, which reduce soil erosion and prevents run-off pollution of river water (often used by the local communities for drinking, bathing and washing)."(5)
Equitrade — the next step from Fairtrade?
While growth in the number of certified Fairtrade and organic products is welcome and much needed in the sector, interest in the concept of "equitrade" is also developing. A director at Malagasy Ltd, the first Equitrade certified company with partner companies in Madagascar and a high scorer in our table, states "instead of exporting the raw ingredients by ship and then processing and packaging in Europe and the USA, we are encouraging packaging in Madagascar so that we are exporting more value as you will always need to export more kilogramme weight in cocoa beans compared to actual chocolate.
This means working through [Madagascan] companies and suppliers to make world class finished products that compete against companies in the rich nations that normally import cash crops from developing nations, and process the added value in the rich economies."(6) Similarly, The Day Trading Chocolate Company which also scores well on our table, has 47% of its shares owned by Kuapa Kokoo, the farmers' co-operative that produces the cocoa for Divine and Dubble chocolate. Therefore, decisions about how the company operates are taken by those central to the cocoa production process.
Links
References
1 Museum of Chocolate, Barcelona, visit made on 31/7/06
2 Global Exchange is a "membership-based international human rights organization dedicated to promoting social, economic and environmental justice around the world" www.globalexchange.org viewed 7/9/06
3 Cadbury Schweppes Inc, Mars Inc and Nèstle, Mintel, April 2006, 'Chocolate Confectionery'
4 www.fairtrade.org.uk/ viewed 13/9/06
5 Press Release 11/04/06 www.soilassociation.org/ viewed 13/9/06
6 Email from, and phone conversation with a director at Malagasy 31/8/06
7 Cadbury Scweppes Plc, Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2006
8 www.buav.org/campaigns/petfood/ viewed 13/9/06
9 www.bigcampaign.org viewed 13/9/06 10 www.altria.com/ viewed 17/8/06