Green and Black's

Organisation's background

Green & Black's was founded in 1991 by Craig Sams and his wife Josephine Fairley. They have been recognised as the first organisation to gain the fairtrade logo for their 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, as well as brancing into other produce. They state that they are the first faritrade company and that their practices reiterate the ethical message linked to the fairtrade logo. 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}

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.

Staff

Staff include:

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

William Kendell is the chief executive for the company

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 is a big multinational which is after profit and not what is best for the wider world as a whole, their main aim is to keep the shareholders happy by increasing their revenue. 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 movement. 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 feeding of their beliefs down through the company. They will have the power to enforce a different type of thinking in order to gain money, the helping and endorsing of local farmers and products will be further down on their list of priorities. BBC news state that, 'Green & Black's is the fastest-growing confectionary brand, with 5.1% of the UK market for black 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 fact that William Kendell the Chief Executive had to post a large message on the website to try and back up the reasons for selling to Cadbury's and why that was supposedy int he bvest interest of the farmers, consumers and company highlight the discontent felt by large numbers of those who supported the company to begin with.

"In the deal with Cadbury Schweppes, worth about £20million, the small-scale chocolatier will be absorbed into a global portfolio of mainstream products, from chocolate bars to Dr Pepper soft drinks." http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2-1610184,00.html

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

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. This idea is more than fair if it is properly put into practice. However, if only one of the bars which Green & Black's sell is fairtrade they are fleecing consumers into paying extra for their other bars. 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

Therefore, not only are the bars which are actually fairtrade not giving the farmers a proper deal in relation to the sales and sharing of finances but money is also being gained from bars which are not even fairtrade. What is often not highlighted is that although their chocoalte may be organic only one type of bar is fairtrade. They have hidden under the label of organic and made one bar fairtrade in order to get people associating their produce with the fairtrade movement. It highlights the fact that consumers are being duped into believing that the company are more than what they say they are.