Dairy Milk: A Glass and a Half of Fair.

I can feel it coming in the air tonight, oh Lord
I've been waiting for this moment for all my life

A little over a year ago, I mentioned that Tate and Lyle had been Fair Trade certified for their range of sugars. At the time I said:

that the victories for fairtrade will not come with niche companies, but with normal suppliers of coffee, tea, chocolate, or ... sugar, going over to fairtrade.

This is not to deny the important contribution played by niche companies such as Cafe Direct or Divine Chocolate. Divine provides a valuable illustration, because its pioneering work supported the Kuapa Kokoo cooperative of Ghanian cocoa farmers. Kuapa Kokoo provides cocoa, via Divine, to the Co-Op and now to Cadburys for its Dairy Milk range.

The Dairy Milk announcement, which I discovered here is why I am blogging today. Last year I expressed praise for Tate and Lyle, and I do so again here. It demonstrates that the big faceless corporation can be persuaded towards more ethical behaviour with a bit of consumer pressure. For this to work we need an informed consumer society - and the work of the fairtrade foundation has been to raise awareness of ethical purchasing, the fairtrade mark allows consumers to make easy yet informed decisions.


Cynics might suggest that this move is no better than the Partner's Blend initiative from Nestle. However I believe there are several differences. Whilst both are applied to a single product - or range, within companies with substantial portfolios, Cadburys is changing an existing brand, rather than creating a new one. What is more the brand is a major one, Partner's Blend can barely be found, whereas the Costcutter next door sells Dairy Milk, and will presumably continue to do so. Dairy Milk is surely the brand of milk chocolate. What is more Cadbury claim that they intend to roll out the certification to more of their products, if in the next few years they have no done so, then the cynics will have had the day, but if encouraged by success in Dairy Milk Cadbury continue to improve their ethical standards then a true blow has been struck against injustice. For more, and hopefully more on the devlopment of fairtrade in the Cadburys range, see their blog.

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I have never posted praising the Co-Op, so this seems like an apposite moment to mention that they have played a very important role in supporting ethical produce, both through retail and funding for various groups. They combine this work with ethical practices in other areas, such as ethical banking, positive employment policies and of course their co-operative structure. A further diversion would be to mention some reading I did today, being the Church of Scotland's response to Agricultural and Food policy. This made clear that there are people in economically marginalised communities who do not receive a living compensation for their work. These people however live in Scotland, and their plight may be less dramatic than that of those in less economically developed countries, but they are still squeezed by the same villains, the half dozen major retailers and distributors who often do not pay farmers enough to cover production costs.