Fairtrade Cadbury Dairy Milk Wins Award!

Pop a cork and shout hooray! We're celebrating Fairtrade Cadbury Dairy Milk's recent win in the 2010 Business in the Community Awards. The work of the Cadbury Cocoa Partnership (CCP) has been recognised with a Highly Commended in the Supply Chain category. 

Of course, this is all down to the hard work and dedication of many people here in the UK and in Ghana, and we're very proud to be able to celebrate this. 

Here's a quick recap of the Cadbury Dairy Milk Fairtrade story... 

Back in 2007, Cadbury commissioned research into the cocoa supply chain. You can't have chocolate without cocoa and when the report identified future risks to supply (such as low incomes and young Ghanaians heading to the cities for work opportunities), Cadbury got to work. 

The Cadbury Cocoa Partnership was established in 2008. Charged with investing £45 million over a 10 year period, the CCP set about improving the livelihoods of farmers in Ghana, by giving a fair price for their product. This has resulted in higher incomes, local investment, and a better standard of living for cocoa farmers, their families and communities. 

The CCP has achieved great things, but the work goes on! And we'll be here every step of the way to tell the story...

The Cocoa Farmers' Forum 2010, by Danielle Derks in Ghana

 

Danielle Derks is a VSO volunteer living and working in Ghana. She is heavily involved in the work the Cadbury Cocoa Partnership do and this is her first post for the blog. Welcome Danielle! The Cocoa Farmers' Forum 2010 took place last week and Danielle was there. Here's her report...

The Cocoa Farmers' Forum is a collaborative programme organised by the Cadbury Cocoa Partnership (CCP), the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), and the Sustainable Tree Crops Program (STCP). The forum provides a platform for cocoa farmers to discuss issues related to cocoa production, and enables them to find solutions to the challenges facing them. 

 

In recent months, cocoa farmers from 15 districts have orchestrated community discussions. Representative farmers from each of the districts have now been invited to a two day forum to discuss cocoa-related issues. 

One of these farmers is Isaac Morbi (pictured above), representing Amansie West District in the Ashanti Region. He has been in cocoa farming for four years and says it is hard and difficult work. He explained: 

"You have to use your own money and techniques to get where you want. Getting land is also hard because it is controlled by chiefs." 

Isaac thinks the Cocoa Farmers' Forum is a very successful event. He now feels he is in a position to address the issues and challenges facing him. 

"The fact that there are also representatives of the government attending the forum, gives me confidence that our issues will be taken on board, which will lead to solutions. I as a cocoa farmer feel strongly part of this forum, and it was a good opportunity to meet stake holders as well. I am looking forward to the good outcome of this forum and I sincerely hope the initiative will be continued annually." 

And indeed, the 2010 forum is the first of what organisers hope to be an annual event. 

 

First Consumer-Designed Cadbury Dairy Milk Wrapper Now On Sale!

 

Remember when we wrote about our Facebook Friend Paul Ruane? He won the Irish competition to design a limited edition wrapper of Fairtrade Cadbury Dairy Milk. And here he is, clutching a huge version of his winning wrapper! 

Last week was the launch of this new bar, depicting the Cliffs of Moher in County Clare. Over 600,000 bars featuring Paul's design will now be sold in Ireland. Amazing.

We asked Paul for this photo of the launch day and asked him a little more about the inspiration behind the design itself:

"I grew up in Clare and often visited the Cliffs of Moher as a child. My mother used to create oil paintings of the Cliffs, so the image was iconic to me. It is fitting that this was my inspiration for this competition, and it was the perfect opportunity to combine three loves of mine - graphic design, County Clare and Cadbury chocolate." 

So, if you find yourself in Northern Ireland in the next few weeks, be sure to buy yourself one of Paul's designs! 

The Big Lunch

 

What are you up to this Sunday? Taking a nap, seeing pals, heading out for a stroll? Or perhaps you're getting involved with The Big Lunch... 

Organised by The Eden Project, it's designed to encourage us to have lunch with our neighbours, get to know each other, have fun, and generally create a lovely sense of community. It can be a low key get together or a massive street party. Whatever you and your neighbours decide. The guys at The Eden Project call it 'human warming': the beginning of new friendships and positivity within your local community. 

And what's the Fairtrade angle? In Garstang - the world's first town to achieve status - they are holding a special Fairtrade Big Lunch. Last year's went down a storm so here's to a repeat of that on Sunday. 

Bruce Crowther, who was Chair of the Garstang Fairtrade Steer Group up until recently, says of this Sunday's get together: 

"The theme is Fairtrade and communities together, which is very much what Fairtrade Towns are all about." 

Couldn't agree more. And on behalf of Fairtrade Cadbury Dairy Milk, the Cadbury Cocoa Partnership, and the wonderfully inspiring Ghanaian cocoa producers Cadbury works with, we have sent a box of Fairtrade Cadbury Dairy Milk bars to the folks in Garstang to enjoy on Sunday. 

If you fancy a knees up with your friends and neighbours, then it's not too late to get involved. Visit The Big Lunch website and there you can search for an event already happening near you. Or if you want to arrange something on the fly, then it's got lots of handy hints to get your Big Lunch off the ground this Sunday. 

Aiming High: Number of Fairtrade Towns Tops 500!

Very soon, the Fairtrade Foundation will award status to the UK's 500th Fairtrade town. We wish lots of luck to the applicants: Basingstoke and Deane in England, Fife in Scotland and Llanelli in Wales. We'll report who made it as soon as we hear.

If you're still wondering what Fairtrade is all about, put simply it means anything carrying the FAIRTRADE Mark ensures the producer got a fair deal. In the case of Cadbury Dairy Milk and the Cadbury Cocoa Partnership, that means that cocoa farmers in Ghana are receiving good prices for their crop and whole communities are being transformed. You just have to read our post about the Ghanaian village of Krobom, to realise the transformative effect of Fairtrade on people's lives. 

The Fairtrade movement has gathered apace since Garstang in Lancashire was the first town to gain status 10 years ago. Now that so many towns are Fairtrade, the next step is to twin with producer communities abroad. Garstang is leading the way by twinning with a cocoa-producing town in Ghana. Speaking from a Cadbury Dairy Milk perspective, we wholeheartedly doff our caps to the people of Garstang! 

You can listen to campaigners talk about Fairtrade and how it makes them feel to be part of it over on The Guardian, and also the BBC too. Great stuff. 

So do you living in a Fairtrade town? What are your experiences? Are you a member of a grassroots campaigning group, or simply happy to be living in a place where buying Fairtrade tea, coffee, chocolate and more, is an important part of everyday life? 

Tell us about it, we'd love to hear your stories.

Ghanaian Football Team Honoured After World Cup Defeat

We watched sadly last Friday as the Ghanaian football team crashed out of the World Cup after a brave battle on penalties with victors, Uraguay. 

But we're pleased to report that the gallant boys from Ghana have been given national honours and a cash gift to reward them for their stunning performance.

The Black Stars are the only the third African team, alongside Senegal and Cameroon, to have qualified for the World Cup quarter finals. President of Ghana, John Atta Mills, said: 

"You did not win the World Cup, but through your performance, you carried high the flags of not only Ghana but Africa." 

Well done Ghana and next time, we'll be rooting for you to go even further. 

Fairtrade Cadbury Dairy Milk and the Chocolate Coastline

Over in beautiful Ireland, a very talented man named Paul Ruane (pictured above) has recently won a competition to design a limited edition Fairtrade Cadbury Dairy Milk wrapper. 

Thanks to our thriving Facebook community, we got to hear about it when Paul posted a photo of his newly delivered chocolate sporting his design. Pleased as punch, as well he should be, we got in touch with him and he told us a little bit about his win...

"It all came from a national competition that Cadbury Ireland ran in December last year. In the Irish version of The Apprentice tv show, the contestants had a task to create an Irish themed Cadbury Dairy Milk bar. The reaction to it was great, so Cadbury and The Apprentice show launched a campaign for anyone to design the wrapper with the only brief being that it had to be 'Irish'. 

 

"I grew up near the Cliffs of Moher in County Clare, so this was my inspiration for the design. I wanted to create a magical Willy Wonka-esque Ireland, using one of the famous landmarks, where the Glass and a Half pours into the ocean, creating chocolate milk. 

"My design was selected as one of the five finalists and went onto win the public vote in Ireland. January was a busy month of promoting and getting votes. Here's the poster I used: 

"The limited edition bar is now selling in Ireland. It's amazing for me as a designer to see my work being used on such a national level and for one of the best loved chocolate bars. It's the first time Cadbury have had someone else's design on the wrapper, other than the signature Cadbury Dairy Milk design, so it's a huge honour for me." 

Fairtrade Cadbury Dairy Milk Scales The Highest Heights

 

The Cadbury Dairy Milk Facebook page is buzzing every day with interesting Fan comments and photos. About a week ago, one particular post caught my eye. On the Wall, a chap named Zoran Vasic had posted a photo of himself and his fellow Canadian Forces expedition team mates holding bars of Fairtrade Cadbury Dairy Milk.

Underneath his photo he wrote: "I gave them (the team) a few of my Cadbury Dairy Milk Fairtrade chocolates knowing they needed the energy boost and something exceptionally tasty. Most of the time food on expeditions is just what you need to survive, not always what you like to see on your menu. Just to let you know they said thanks!"

Intrigued to hear more about this remarkable journey, I tracked Zoran down. Here's his account of the trek and how Fairtrade Cadbury Dairy Milk lifts spirits during dark times...  

"I came back home safe on June 7th 2010, after the attempt to climb Mount Logan, in the southwestern point of the Canadian region of Yukon. 

"Our small team of three started strong and after just five days we reached Camp 2, located on King's Col (4,100m or 12,000ft). It was very hard to pull half of the gear and food, dig a hole in frozen snow, cash the load and ski back to the lower camp. Next day we pulled the rest of the load up to the same place and set up a new camp. And the next day again the same thing... hard work. 

  

"Mount Logan is a beautiful and wild place. The wildest place I have ever been. It was fascinating to listen to the strong winds howling over the ice fields and rock at night, when it's still daylight at 11:30pm! The climbing season is from late April to early July. Generally, the weather deteriorates as the summer progresses. Springtime winds can exceed 160 km/hour and temperatures on the glacier can range from minus 40F to plus 80F. It was cold and windy for us though! 

 

"Fairtrade Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate bars were a hit! I had 30 bars of them and since I am an old fashioned mountaineer, I couldn't eat them alone hidden in the tent. Whenever someone was close by, I offered a little. Eating good chocolate in such a harsh environment is psychologically uplifting! 

"Mount Logan is not a place where you could meet a lot of people. It's the second highest peak in North America, so many people go to Mount McKinley, which is the highest. We met just 11 mountaineers on our trip. Not all of them were lucky enough to get some Cadbury Dairy Milk, but four mountaineers from Toronto did!" 

If you have questions or comments for Zoran, write them below and I'll make sure they get to him. 

Come On The Black Stars!

 

We couldn't let Ghana's success in the World Cup go uncelebrated. (Particularly in light of England's shocker against Germany last Sunday...) 

Big hopes rest on the shoulders of the team that has been described in the British press as "dangerous outsiders". They are the first African side to reach the 2010 World Cup in South Africa from the qualifiers. 

At 7.30pm on Friday evening, the Black Stars will face South American hopefuls, Uraguay. If winning is down to overwhelmingly cacophonous vuvuzela support from the continent of Africa, then Ghana will breeze into the semi-finals.

Joseph Bbirikadde is our Cadbury Cocoa Partnership man working in Ghana at the moment, and this is what he had to say about support for the team there. 

"You definitely should root for Ghana. We are going for gold. The whole country is in a football mood and very expectant. 

"Sadly there are so many injuries in the team and send offs, we hope they will be able to use this time of rest to recover. It is also sad that England could not make it this far, it was a sad match... Most of my housemates are Germans and they did not like the fact that I did not support them. 

"The cup is staying in Africa. Despite not being Ghanaian, I think I am rooting for the team more thn most Ghanaians!"

So from everyone here at Fairtrade Cadbury Dairy Milk, good luck Ghana! We're behind you all the way. 

British Dairy Farmer Meets Ghanaian Cocoa Farmer

Andrew Freeston (pictured above) is a British dairy farmer. The milk he produces helps make Cadbury Dairy Milk. Last month, he travelled to Ghana to meet some of the cocoa producers working with the Cadbury Cocoa Partnership there. Here is his story, in his own words... 

"I am a dairy farmer from Wootton Bassett, Wiltshire. I have farmed there for 30 years. As well as milking cows, I produce turkeys for the Christmas market and I am a vendor of hay and straw, which helps supplement my dairy income. 

"I produce 1.5 million litres of milk per year for The Selkley Vale Group. The Group then supplies approximately 80 million litres of milk for the production of the Cadbury's Dairy Milk chocolate. 

"Recently I visited Ghana with two colleagues, to help refurbish a school and housing for local families. I also combined my visit with meeting the local cocoa producers. 

"The local representative for the Cadbury Cocoa Partnership in Ghana, a man named Yaa Peprah, took us around three villages in the east of Accra. We were met by the local chiefs and shown around the cocoa farms. Here we saw how the cocoa pods were grown and how the bans were picked and dried in the sun, before being transported to the post and over to the Cadbury Dairy Milk factory in the town of Chirk, Wales. 

"The local people were very welcoming and hospitable. They took a great interest in my role as a dairy farmer supplying milk for Cadbury Dairy Milk. I sampled local palm gin and we had a look at the Cadbury-funded water wells. 

"The company buys their cocoa in Ghana for Cadbury Dairy Milk under the Fairtrade terms. As a British dairy farmer, we are keen to see how the Fairtrade system could be adapted for use in the British milk market." 

A fascinating trip for Andrew and brilliant of him to share it with us. If you have any questions or comments you would like to pass on to him, then please leave a message below.