Chocolate Saves a Mayan Village
There are some good guys out there.
Green & Black owners Craig Sams and Jo Fairley have worked to make cacao farming in the Mayan communities of Belize more equitable for the farmers. From The Leader Online:
In 1994, organic chocolate manufacturer Green & Black's added Maya Gold to its line of chocolates after founders Craig Sams and Jo Fairley fell in love with a Mayan drink while on vacation in Belize. "Kukuh," the Mayan drink, had been consumed by native cocoa farmers for generations. The company had already begun with the belief that sourcing organic ingredients for its products would be beneficial to taste. The company also believed that farmers who grew their crops organically were more interested in the quality and taste of what they grew, and were therefore more personally invested in their crops.
The most important aspect of their new product was the agreement Sams and Fairley entered into with the local farmers while on their trip. After learning that a large chocolate corporation had promised the farmers lucrative prices to plant hybrid cocoa trees rather than indigenous varieties familiar to them - eventually causing the community to collapse in economic ruin - Green & Black's offered to trade directly with the farmers. The company agreed a price with the growers that made it profitable for them to grow cocoa and, signed a rolling contract for 5 years minimum with a cash prepayment to ensure that their cooperative could reimburse members 'on the spot.' This equitable deal meant that Maya Gold earned the first Fairtrade Mark ever to be awarded in the United Kingdom.
Progressive tactics for a multi-national company. I'll be picking up a bar or two on my next grocery run.