The boss of Cadbury-owned Green & Black’s today (28 January) revealed that Kraft Foods has issued a commitment to respect all the UK confectioner’s Fairtrade arrangements.
Dominic Lowe, managing director of Green & Black’s, told just-food he has “every confidence” in Kraft’s imminent takeover of Cadbury after the US food giant signalled it would respect the UK group’s plans for Fairtrade.
Earlier today, Green & Black’s announced plans to move its entire range to Fairtrade by the end of 2011.
Fifteen years ago, Green & Black’s Maya Gold bar was the first official Fairtrade product to go on sale in the UK.
The firm said all its chocolate and beverage products would carry the Fairtrade mark in the country from later this year. The company plans to convert its entire range across all markets to Fairtrade by the end of 2011.
Lowe, who is set to leave Green & Black’s at the end of February, said the launch of more Fairtrade products is a “lovely legacy”, and added that Kraft was “aware” of the move before it was announced.
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By GlobalDataLowe said Kraft was “very supportive” of Green & Black’s move to 100% Fairtrade and is “committed to respecting all of the Fairtrade arrangements” set up by the company.
“We had a specific statement from [Kraft] yesterday and they were very gracious about it,” Lowe said.
Kraft upped its bid for Cadbury last week, with the Dairy Milk maker’s board advising shareholders to accept the renewed offer. Shareholders have until 2 February to accept the offer.
Asked what the future could hold for Green & Black’s under Kraft stewardship, Lowe said: “I honestly don’t know. When Cadbury bought Green & Black’s in 2005, people were saying it would be catastrophic and Cadbury have been fantastic. They’ve kept our independence, they’ve never touched the quality of the product, they’ve encouraged us to do Fairtrade. I have every confidence. Assuming the shareholders vote; it will be up to them,” he said.
Lowe added that Green & Black’s move to 100% Fairtrade had been a “huge effort” but said the company was “absolutely delighted” with the results.
He said the move had taken the firm around one year to complete, although the company had encountered “issues” along the way, including sourcing ingredients that were organic and Fairtrade.
Lowe said: “Ingredients like cherries from Moldova and ginger from China are tricky to get certified. The other thing is, we had to sign Fairtrade agreements in around a dozen countries around the world so it’s been complex.”
He added: “The ongoing cost is about GBP300,000 a year to the farmers in the Dominican Republic. The Fairtrade cost of sugar is quite a lot less than that; it’s more like GBP50,000. It’s been more about effort and time than cost to get it up and running,” he said.
The outgoing Green & Black’s boss said the firm’s focus will be to continue working on its carbon footprint.
“Obviously being organic is the fundamental for everything. We’ve now gone Fairtrade, which puts more back into the community and farms. But the carbon agenda will be the place to go next,” Lowe said.
