Green and Black's

Organisation's background

Green & Black's was founded in 1991 by Craig Sams and his wife Josephine Fairley. They state that they are the first organisation to make organic chocolate. The Maya Gold bar was the first of Green & Black's bars and they have continued to increase their range of dark chocolate. They state that they are the first faritrade company and that their practices reiterate the ethical message. Below are some of the statements which they emphasise on their website:

"We offered to trade direct with the growers, paying them a premium for their organic cocoa and an additional Fairtrade price."

{http://www.greenandblacks.com/story.php}

Changes in ownership

Considering all the emphasis Green and Black's put on their ethical importance and the small style company it seems extremely hypocritcal that they sold themselves to a large multinational company. Green & Black's were bought over by Cadbury's in May of 2005. This had a great impact on the percieved meanings and values of the company. After all, Cadbury's are a big multinational which is after profit and not what is best for the wider world as a whole. Due to the increased demand for ethical and organic produce Cadbury's believed that it was in their best interests to become part of this. It also meant that any competition which they might have had was eliminated. Cadbury's has agreed to let the company run as a stand alone company and will only help facilitate the sale and distribution of the product throughout different regions. However, this new turn of event equals a take over by a big corporation and therefore a change in management. BBC news state that, 'Green & Black's is the fastest-growing confectionary brand, with 5.1% of the UK market for block chocolate.' http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/4543583.stm

There has been a number of complaints and worries about the future of the company due to its change in ownership. Green & Black's itself have tried to back up there move by stating that, "Our experience of large organisations is that they are usually very aware of the big issues facing them. They have active shareholders and employees who keep them on their toes and we know that some of Green & Black?s most passionate customers happen to be employees of Cadbury Schweppes." http://www.greenandblacks.com/news_detail.php?item=56

The main products which they sell include: Chocolate Biscuits Ice cream Beverages (such as hot chocolate) Baking products (Cocoa powder and cooking chocolate) Nearly all of the products are chocolate or chocolate based.

Fairtrade goods have become more popular as people are made aware of ethical consumerism and where exactly the food they buy comes from. "Some ?63m of Fairtrade foods are sold annually, an increase of 90% within the past two years." http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,3605,1276788,00.html#article_continue

Staff include:

• Saul Garcia
• Micah Carr-Hill
• Georgie Foottit
• Trish Watts
• Craig Sams

Behind the Fairtrade Image

With the rise of ethical purchasing has come the ability for companies like Green & Black's to manipulate the system. People think that they have to pay over the odds for such produce in order to give the farmers in developing countries the ability to get a proper wage. It is made out that by paying extra the farmers are going to be gaining. However, very little of this goes to the farmer as stated below.

"From each bar of Maya Gold chocolate, retailing at £1.60 in the UK, a Toledo farmer will receive roughly 6p. The cocoa mass may be 55%, but the cocoa cost is nearer to 4%. When it comes to international trade, "fair" is a relative term." http://www.guardian.co.uk/weekend/story/0,3605,1276788,00.html#article_continue