Cadbury has expanded efforts to help tens of thousands of cocoa farmers in West Africa by selling its chocolate brand Dairy Milk under the Fair Trade logo in Canada.
The confectionery company plans to make the move to Fair Trade certification by next summer, and with an estimated 22 million bars sold annually, the amount of Fair Trade Certified chocolate sold in Canada is expected to double.
“We are deeply proud to make Fair Trade Certified chocolate accessible right across Canada by working together with TransFair Canada [the national Fair Trade Certification body] to achieve certification for our biggest global brand and one of Canada’s leading chocolate bars,” said Gary Scullion, general manager for Canada, Cadbury North America.
Cadbury’s commitment means approximately 11% of all chocolate products Cadbury sells in Canada will be Fair Trade Certified.
The move is part of the Cadbury Cocoa Partnership–a 10-year, $80 million initiative designed to help cocoa farming communities across the developing world.
Cadbury started distributing Dairy Milk under the Fair Trade logo in Britain and Ireland last month, tripling the amount of cocoa it gets from Ghana–Cadbury’s main source of cocoa beans.
The move has resulted in the transfer of approximately $883,000 to Ghana, the first installment of the Fair Trade social premium.
Cadbury also announced its Dairy Milk bars in Australia and New Zealand would display the Fair Trade Certification mark.
The Fair Trade mark is designed to secure a better deal for commodity producers in developing countries, and is used on a range of products such as coffee and bananas.
Prior to the Cocoa partnership, Cadbury committed to community improvements in Ghana that led to the construction of 850 wells, benefiting more than 130,000 people.
Earlier this year the company launched the Bicycle Factory program that sought to help build 5,000 bikes for kids in Africa this November.
