Cadbury chocolate bars are about to look very different
<p>The world’s second largest chocolate manufacturer Cadbury is pulling out of the Fairtrade scheme after seven years, in favour of its own sustainability program.</p>
<p>By the end of the year, the blue and green Fairtrade logo – which is awarded to product that meet strict criteria – will no longer appear on Cadbury packs worldwide. On some chocolate blocks, it’s already been removed.</p>
<p>Fairtrade will be replaced by a sustainability program called “Cocoa Life”, which is actually owned by Cadbury’s parent company Mondelez.</p>
<p>Cadbury says its own program is similar to the Fairtrade initiative and that Fairtrade Foundation will continue as a partner.</p>
<p><img width="442" height="249" src="http://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/7151bdd660a397b2439a4dd2abb079e1" alt="Cadbury Dairy Milk bars have sported the independently verified Fairtrade logo since 2010" style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"/></p>
<p><img width="449" height="253" src="http://cdn.newsapi.com.au/image/v1/da7c0a1f4733b96fd6b6e4f278949535" alt="From 2018, the Fairtrade logo will be replaced by the “Cocoa Life” logo created internally by Cadbury’s owner Mondelez." style="display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"/></p>
<p>But news.com.au report that Fairtrade Australia and New Zealand boss Molly Harriss Olson said she would have preferred it if Cadbury had stuck with the Fairtrade brand.</p>
<p>Fairtrade help around 1.65 million farmers in 75 developing countries by ensuring they receive a fair price for their products.</p>
<p>“Cadbury Dairy Milk will not be Fairtrade certified in the traditional sense. It will be a new partnership, a different sort of partnership,” Olson said.</p>
<p>She said Fairtrade would continue to monitor elements of Cadbury’s new program.</p>
<p>But she also warned big companies turning to their own sustainability labels that consumers would see through “fair-washing” and companies’ “grading their own homework”.</p>
<p>Cadbury’s decision comes at a time where other big food companies, including Nestle and Ferrero, are expanding their Fairtrade mark across more products.</p>
