James: a Cadbury Fairtrade Cocoa Farmer

Thanks to the hard work of our buddies in Canada, Cadbury Dairy Milk there now carries the Fairtrade Mark. News worth celebrating!

This is obviously a great story and our friends at Exhale Wellness think so too. This week, they hopped onto our Cadbury Dairy Milk Facebook fan page, and posted a link to a video interview they did with James.

James is a Ghanaian cocoa farmer who has been working with the Canadian Cadbury Dairy Milk team to provide Fairtrade cocoa beans for that delicious chocolate we all know and love. Here he tells Exhale Wellness about what Fairtrade means to him and his family. 

A real heart warmer for the weekend.

Let them eat cake! The world's first edible art show comes to town

Calling all cake and Fairtrade fans! From this coming Friday to Sunday (27th-29th August), you have the opportunity to, quite literally, take in the world's first edible art exhibition. 

Named Cake Britain and held at The Future Gallery in London, the show is sponsored by Tate & Lyle (whose sugar carries the Fairtrade Mark). It's based on the Mad Artists Tea Party's interpretation of the meaning of 'fair'. 

With that in mind, all proceeds of exhibits sold will be donated to our friends at the Fairtrade Foundation, plus charities Richard House and We Make Peace. 

Among those exhibiting will be jelly mongering ingenues, Bombas and Parr, who have recently been wowing the crowds at the Big Chill Festival, with their extraordinary creations. 

Entry is free for a fair donation to the Fairtrade Foundation and the other charities mentioned, so get yourself down there and munch guilt-free. 

And if you can't make it, it's easy to enjoy a bar of Fairtrade Cadbury Dairy Milk instead ;-)

Fan Pays Tribute to Glass and a Half Full Productions

To celebrate Friday, we bring you a concept Glass and a Half Full Production advert, posted to the Wall by one of our Facebook Fans. Watch it now! 

Kat McCorkindale created the the concept of the singing granny, so we asked her about how she came up with the idea. Here's what Kat said...

"Having seen the Cadbury Gorilla ads on TV and loving them, I was admiring how it was such a simple and effective concept. I often think of random concepts such as this, and I made it just for fun. I have a strong interest in advertising, having worked in many creative fields including video editing, website design, and development and marketing. I get a real kick out of awesome ads and the Gorilla one was one of the best I've seen." 

So there you have it. Loads of love for the Gorilla and Glass and a Half Full Productions! Thanks Kat, loving you work :-)

NB This is intended as a fun celebration of a concept video created by a Facebook Fan, and posted to the Glass and a Half Full Facebook Fan Page Wall. This does not have anything to do with Cadbury and is not an official Glass and a Half Full Production.

Nick and Joanne: the Chocolate-Enhanced Wedding of the Year!

As you know, Nick and Joanne Aubury-Russell were married on Saturday, and we were the proud providers of a bespoke 1kg Cadbury Dairy Milk bar to help them celebrate. Chow down guys! 

 

The happy couple provided these photos of them proudly showing off their personalised chocolate. Joanne wore a beautiful dress with a band of Cadbury purple at the top. Simply gorgeous! There was enough chocolate to make sure all the guests could take some home with them. 

 

The happy couple are now on honeymoon, but we wish them well. We feel very privileged to have been able to contribute to their special day. They really are a lovely pair, and along with the rest of their family, absolutely huge Cadbury Dairy Milk Fans. 

Hip hip hooray! 

Going to the chapel and we're... gonna eat Cadbury Dairy Milk

Let me introduce Nick and Joanne Aubury, two of our very lovely Fans on the Cadbury Dairy Milk Facebook page. Actually, I should say the-soon-to-be Mr and Mrs Nick Aubury, because tomorrow they are getting hitched! 

A few months ago, Nick posted a photo on the Wall of him chowing down on the 1kg sized Cadbury Dairy Milk bar he received for Father's Day. Here he is... 

 

Underneath his picture, he and Joanne joked about Cadbury making a bespoke wedding bar for them, instead of having a cake...

 

But little did they know at the time, their jesting gave us food for thought...

Fast forward to August and behind the scenes, the fantastic team at Bournville have come up trumps to provide Nick and Joanne with a personalised 1kg Cadbury Dairy Milk bar, especially for their nuptials tomorrow. 

The happy couple have promised to send lots of photos, so we can all admire that fantastic bar next week. But in the meantime, all that remains to be said is huge congratulations to the future Mr and Mrs Aubury! We hope you have a fantastic day. 

Our first Cadbury Dairy Milk wedding... isn't it fantastic?! *wells up*

Cadbury Dairy Milk scores a tribute from 'Made in Birmingham' campaign

Every day, we chat to Cadbury Dairy Milk Fans over on our Facebook Fan Page. One such Fan is called Mat Jones, an intern currently cutting his chocolate-chomping teeth at BRMB Radio in Birmingham. 

Earlier this week, Mat posted the video above on our Facebook Wall. We had a watch and were pleased as punch to see a very cleverly composed tribute to Cadbury. So we got in touch with Mat to say hello and find out what it was all about. Here's the lowdown, in his own words... 

"The idea behind the video is to celebrate the iconic brands from Birmingham: Cadbury, HP Sauce, Mini Cooper and The Bullring. We enlisted the help of around 100 creative arts students from Birmingham Metropolitan, and local television company Aquila, and shot the video in one day at Harborne Cricket Club. We are very proud of the video. Everyone at the office is a chocoholic!" 

Thanks to everyone at BRMB Radio for the compliment, we love the video. To say thank you, we'll be sending Mat and his chocolate-loving colleagues, a big box of Fairtrade Cadbury Dairy Milk bars. 

Happy chomping guys :-)

A Shout-Out For Our Mates at Fair Trade Wales

Beaming Brigend Fairtrade campaigners with First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones 

Last week, our friends at Fair Trade Wales (follow them on Twitter @FairTradeWales) launched their Final Push 4 Fair Trade Counties campaign. 

Wales is the world's first Fairtrade nation, and with over 80 % of Welsh counties enjoying Fairtrade status, this is the final furlong to making sure the remaining counties secure certification. 

The Fair Trade Wales team chose the 2010 Eisteddfod Festival to announce their campaign. The Eisteddfod is a traveling festival that belongs to the people of Wales. Every year it moves to a different location to celebrate the wonders of Welsh art, music, technology, and culture, and this year it was held in Blaneu, Gwent. Definitely the perfect place to celebrate Wales' Fairtrade achievements and ambitions for the future.

We sent Chris and the team at Fair Trade Wales some emergency Fairtrade Cadbury Dairy Milk to hand out at the festival. Hope you enjoyed it guys :-) 

The highlight of the week (apart from the chocolate!) was First Minister of Wales, Carwyn Jones, presenting Brigend County Fairtrade Partnership with a certificate for becoming the newest Fairtrade county (pictured above). 

Richard Lewis, coordinator for the Brigend County Fairtrade Partnership said of the achievement, "We are really pleased that we've managed to achieve this for Brigend County. It's taken a long time to get all this information together and I'd like to thank everyone who has helped to make this a reality. I hope that we can get all counties in Wales to get Fairtrade status." 

Congratulations to everyone! 

 

Interview: Fairtrade Pioneer, Chocolate Fan and MBE, Bruce Crowther

Bruce: tireless campaigner, Cadbury Chocolate Buttons fan, and all-round top bloke

Bruce Crowther lives in Garstang, the first town in the world to be declared Fairtrade. He has been instrumental in bringing fairly traded produce to the forefront of public consciousness. His passion is awe-inspiring and led him to be honoured with an MBE in 2008. We caught up with him this morning to chat Fairtrade chocolate, visits to Ghana, talking to the Queen, and a world where products carrying the Fairtrade Mark is the norm, not the exception... 

How did you first become involved in fair trade?

I first got involved with Live Aid in the 80s, at the same time as I started working with Oxfam. What motivated me was that a child dies every three seconds across the world, and this is a man-made problem. It was poverty that motivated me: why wasn't everyone trying to do more?

After moving to Garstang, I set up the Oxfam Group there and we campaigned throughout the 90s, about all sorts of issues, not just fair trade. Oxfam was fundamental in establishing the Fairtrade Mark and what we found was that there were two reasons why fair trade was a something people wanted to get involved with. Firstly, it was a simple message for people to understand, and secondly, once they understood the message, they knew what to do. They just has to swap their tea, coffee or chocolate brand. It became a favourite campaign issue. 

What do you think about Cadbury Dairy Milk carrying the Fairtrade Mark? 

Absolutely delighted! From day one I thought the Fairtrade Mark had a chance. It has the opportunity to bring the alternative into the mainstream. If we're going to make a real difference to people's lives, we have to make fair trade the norm. Many years ago, I said to my wife, "One day, we will see Cadbury with the Fairtrade Mark on it." And now we do! 

Do you think more companies should follow in the Cadbury footsteps? 

I think companies who don't are foolish not to go into fair trade. It is a good business move. Once you see big companies like Cadbury switching to the Fairtrade Mark, it sends out a strong message across the world. It people are slow to pick up that message, it's more to their detriment in the long term. 

Are you a Cadbury Dairy Milk fan yourself? 

I have to be honest; I stopped eating it when it wasn't Fairtrade, as I made a big commitment to eating Fairtrade products. I am a big fan of Cadbury Chocolate Buttons, so I am delighted to be able to eat those again!

The Cadbury Cocoa Partnership works with cocoa farmers in Ghana. Have you visited Ghana?

The first time I went to Ghana, I knew there was no fair trade produce being sold there. It was very upsetting as a fair trade campaigner to go to Ghana and not be able to buy fair trade chocolate. Kids couldn't buy a bar of chocolate that could give their parents a fair price. It was my dream to see the Fairtrade Mark in Ghana, so when I saw Cadbury Dairy Milk put the Fairtrade Mark there, it realised one of my dreams. 

What did it feel like to receive an MBE? And what did you talk to the Queen about? 

Well, you don't get long with her! Getting the MBE is a difficult one... we've had quite a lot of awards in Garstang, as the founders of the Fairtrade Towns Movement. It's always nice to have the recognition, but I see the MBE as recognition of the campaign movement as a whole, and I accept it on behalf of the dedicated people behind it. I am a little bit uncomfortable about getting that recognition without the action: action is far more important than any award, or any words. I would be very happy if the Queen was using Fairtrade tea and coffee! 

What keeps you passionate about the work you do? 

It goes back to my original point: a child dies every three seconds of poverty and it's a man-made problem. Once you know that, how can you not be passionate? The whole world should be up in arms about it. It's great we have feedback to know Fairtrade is getting to be successful. But I am constantly reminded that these successes have a long way to go, which is very motivating. We're no where near the end yet. 

Where would you like to see Fairtrade in another 10 years time? 

I want to see it become the norm, not the alternative. I want to see people having to go out of their way to ask for 'unfair chocolate'. The big day will come when we don't need the Fairtrade Mark anymore. And in 10 years time I would also like to see Fairtrade Cadbury Dairy Milk being sold in shops in Ghana! 

Fairtrade Foundation Scoops European Accolade

We'd like to say congratulations to our friends at the Fairtrade Foundation, for winning a Ruban D'Honneur Award in the Corporate Sustainability category. 

They were one of only two British recipients of such an honour at the European Business Awards this week, so well done to all involved. 

Harriet Lamb, Executive Director of the Fairtrade Foundation, said, "This tremendous accolade is a tribute to the dedication and energy of the millions of farmers and workers, campaigners, business and everyday shoppers who comprise the worldwide Fairtrade movement. It's great that their commitment to tipping the balance in favour of better terms for trade, for developing world producers, is recognised in us receiving this honour." 

 

Speaking of those tireless campaigners, we have a chat lined up with Bruce Crowther next week (pictured above centre). Bruce is a Fairtrade pioneer, having been crucial to Garstang's bid to become the world's first Fairtrade town. 

He received an MBE in 2008, so we wanted to find out more about his passion for fairly traded produce, what he's been up to since he stepped down from chairing the Garstang Fairtrade Steer Group, and where he thinks the UK Fairtrade movement will be in 10 years time. 

And while we natter, we may well tuck into a bar of Fairtrade Cadury Dairy Milk. Well, it'd be rude not to...

 

Breathe In Your Fairtrade Five-a-Day

 

By now you would assume that the world and his wife know all about Fairtrade coffee, tea and of course, chocolate. But 19 varieties of Fairtrade fruit? Not so clued up. 

To raise awareness, the Fairtrade Foundation has teamed up with culinary virtuosos, Bompas and Parr (aka the Jelly Mongers, pictured below), to create a unique fruity experiment at this weekend's Big Chill Music Festival. 

 

On top of a hill in the grounds of Eastnor Castle (where the Big Chill is held), will sit a huge installation called the Ziggurat of Flavour. You enter this pyramid at the bottom, where you are led through a maze, before emerging into a central chamber filled with a dense cloud of breathable Fairtrade fruit. And you'll even be able to taste it! 

Fresh Fairtrade oranges, lemons and pineapples will be prepared on-site, with festival-goers liquifying them before the juice is clarified using reverse osmosis. The cloud of vapourised fruit is then made using the same technology that created Anthony Gormley's Blind Light, shown at the Hayward Gallery. 

Anyone who thought Fairtrade fruit was all about the bananas was sorely mistaken. This is the most exciting and inventive method of raising awareness we've ever clapped eyes on. 

If you're going to the Big Chill this weekend, go and check it out. It's not to be missed. And don't forget to come back and tell us all about it :)