WHY ETHICAL BUSINESS MATTERS
Chocolate tastes best when it is fair.
As part of Fairtrade Fortnight (which runs until 16th August 2022) we want to encourage people and businesses to consider what impact their choices have on a global scale.
By thinking bigger and choosing to buy or sell Fairtrade goods, we can magnify our collective impact and contribute to the wellbeing of food producers across the globe.
Fairtrade is currently working with the Norandino Cooperative, a cooperative that supplies the cocoa for our Peru dark chocolate, Salted Caramel Dark Chocolate and our Raspberry Milk Chocolate bars, as one of the partners involved in an innovative re-forestation and income diversification project.
Undertaken with Norandino Cooperative, the project involves a village called Choco which is more than 3,000 metres above sea level overlooking the Andes. The community there is made up of just over 1400 residents who depend on their local environment for all of their needs. This includes large quantities of wood to build homes, cook food and keep warm but over many generations this has resulted in deforestation of the area.
The consequences for the small-scale farmers of Norandino Cooperative 2,000 metres below Choco, were devastating. The forest had sheltered the mountain below, regulating rainfall and protecting the soil. With the trees gone, water washed the soil away which damaged crops, led to mudslides and even damaged infrastructure.
A programme was developed by a range of partners, including Fairtrade, which involved encouraging the people of Choco to plant trees by using carbon credits as rewards. This involves planting seedlings and managing tree nurseries which the community own and can eventually sell as sustainably harvested wood. From 2010 to 2021, 536 hectares have been reforested with 594,774 trees. This has resulted in 22,830 carbon credits being sold. In 2017 the carbon credits became Fairtrade certified providing an extra income and the Fairtrade Premium for the community. So far, the Premium has been used for constructing a communal building, improving operations and purchasing tools.
We are proud to work with Fairtrade and Fairtrade Cooperatives to ensure a better tasting world. For more information about Fairtrade please see their website.
