Sweet and Eco-Friendly Really Do Go Together

Be responsible. Stay healthy. Eat chocolate.

U.S. retail sales for chocolate in 2006 were $16 billion, and the National Confectionery Association expects that number to increase for 2007. In fact, the average American eats almost 12 pounds of chocolate a year.

Sadly – and shamefully, the average cocoa farmer has benefited little from this windfall for the chocolate industry, actually seeing his earnings fall by more than half in the past decade as some of the larger confectionery companies tried to drive cocoa prices down.

According to Craig Sams, cofounder of Green & Black’s Organic chocolate, the low price paid to cocoa farmers by these companies not only affected the quality of the beans but also drove many families out of farming altogether. So today, while world chocolate consumption rises three percent a year, cocoa bean production rises just 1.5 percent.

Third Sector New England and NonProfit Center tenant Chefs Collaborative, both working to promote sustainable development, partnered with Green & Black’s Organic for a pre-Valentine's day event on February 9, 2007, at the NonProfit Center to discuss sustainability and fair trade in the chocolate industry – and treat participants to tables of chocolate and Jim’s Organic Coffee. 

Green and Black’s Organic

Sams and his wife and cofounder, Josephine Fairly, first introduced the world to their chocolate made from organic cocoa beans in 1991. The couple has since built one of the most successful organic, fair trade chocolate businesses in the world. They again set industry standards in 1994 when they created the U.K.’s first Fairtrade-certified product, Maya Gold. Sams credits the success of Green & Black’s to using organic products and labor-friendly work practices.

Echoing the chocolate maker’s point, Jackie Cefola, program coordinator of the NonProfit Center, explains, “For years, nonprofits have pressed industry to use sustainable practices in production and to implement fair labor standards. Increasingly, we see consumers rewarding businesses that have adopted these practices with increased sales, and those businesses that have not adopted best practices are seeing their bottom lines affected.”

It is critical that nonprofits continue to make the U.S. public aware of the difficulties that cocoa farmers face, given the amount spent on chocolate each year. Consumers can use their buying power to make a difference for the farmers.

Cocoa Farmers

And cocoa farmers need consumers’ support in pressing major chocolate producers like Hershey’s and M&M/Mars to act responsibly. For example, in West Africa, producer of the majority of the world’s cocoa, farmers average only $30 to $110 per year per household member from their sales.

World cocoa prices fluctuate widely and have been well below production costs in the last decade. Though cocoa prices have recently shown moderate increases, cocoa producers remain steeped in debt accumulated when prices were below production costs. Farmers typically also get only half the world price, as middlemen who sell their crop demand a hefty commission.

Fortunately, according to Elizabeth Kennedy, Chefs Collaborative membership and office coordinator, fair trade is paramount in correcting the economic imbalances of the cocoa system. An international monitoring and certification system that guarantees a minimum price under direct contracts, fair trade also prohibits abusive child labor and promotes environmental sustainability.

Mutual Benefits of Fair Trade

Green & Black’s exclusively contracts with Mayan farmers in Belize to pay a fair price for high-quality, organic cocoa beans for their Mayan Gold bars. This arrangement benefits the farmers’ families by improving living conditions, providing funding to improve education and health standards, and reducing the impacts on the farmers’ local environment by eliminating the use of herbicides and pesticides. This arrangement also provides the chocolate company with higher quality products and a long-term commitment to that quality by the farmers.

According to Kennedy, consumers are concerned about fairness for local producers, the environment, and getting quality for their dollars. “Using high-quality ingredients like Green & Black’s means that consumers get a better product and are willing to pay a fair price for that premium product,” she said. “Plus it just tastes better.”

Contributing writer: Ross Peizer
3-07

Interested in hearing about other NonProfit Center events? Subscribe to our monthly e-newsletter to learn about upcoming events and opportunities.