Cadbury's Dairy Milk will be Fairtrade

Good news for chocoholics, now that Cadbury's has bowed to pressure to buy Fairtrade cocoa and use it in Dairy milk, but is it just a cynical move or will it bring real benefits?

Stop the Traffik praised Cadbury for the decision, which comes two years into its Chocolate Campaign to see chocolate manufacturers to use only ethically produced cocoa. The coalition's founder, Steve Chalke, is calling on other chocolate manufacturers to follow Cadbury's example.

"This is a very significant step in our campaign. We congratulate Cadburys on their commitment to justice and now look to their policy being adopted across their entire product range as well as to their lead being followed by other manufacturers.

"But the Stop the Traffik Chocolate Campaign marches on. We now call on Mars and other manufacturers to follow Cadbury’s lead and abandon their reliance on the use of cocoa produced through trafficked and exploitative forms of child labour," he said.

Question:"Can Cadburys guarantee that Dairy Milk will remain Fair Trade even if the price of cocoa in the world markets falls? It appears that Cadburys has become Fair Trade simply because, due to a shortfall in cocoa bean supplies, it is already paying more than the Fair Trade threshold set by certifying bodies. It is in effect just changing its packaging and creating a PR opportunity out of difficult market conditions."

Barbara from the Fairtrade Foundation writes “Hi. We're really excited here about this fantastic news for the cocoa growers. Cocoa prices are higher at the moment, but despite this, through the Fairtrade deal Cadbury have committed to paying an extra Fairtrade premium of $150 per tonne to the farmers' groups on top of the market price. This premium is for the farmers' organisations to invest in building better, stronger communities - and they choose themselves what these projects should be.

Secondly, our Fairtrade rules state that companies must continue to pay at least the Fairtrade minimum price and the premium, even if the market falls below this level. So any company that wants to use the FAIRTRADE Mark has to do that. The companies are independently audited by us in order to make sure the farmers continue to benefit, and we're a not-for-profit charity answerable in turn to the likes of Oxfam, Christian Aid, and representatives of Fairtrade producer groups too.”