Last night, Divine Chocolate, the leading Fairtrade brand co-owned by cocoa farmers, won The Observer Ethical Business Award, presented in association with Ecover.

Shortlisted for this category with fellow Fairtrade business Equal Exchange, and www.walkit.com, Divine was selected unanimously by a large panel of judges including high profile names such as Colin Firth, Jon Snow and Natalie Imbruglia, as well as ethical experts including Juliet Davenport of Good Energy and Sian Berry of the Green Party.  One of the reasons Divine was chosen, said Whitni Thomas of Triodos, was that it had shown “business really can be done differently”.

Sophi Tranchell, Managing Director of Divine Chocolate Ltd, stepped up to receive the award, presented by ethical Observer columnist Lucy Siegle. “We were delighted that two pioneering Fairtrade companies were shortlisted for this special award,” said Tranchell. “Divine Chocolate is driven by a mission to create a more equitable trading relationship with smallholder farmers in Africa – this award is a very welcome salute to the success of that mission, to the farmers of Kuapa Kokoo and their dynamic cooperative, and to all the thousands of chocolate lovers who have chosen Divine and made change happen.”

Other winners on the night included bedmakers Warren Evans, online retailer Natural Collection, and Balfour Junior School – which won the Ecover Award for Ethical Kids for their stunning film on plastic waste.

Divine was launched in 1998 into the highly competitive UK chocolate market, where against the odds it has grown to an £11m business with over 25 products available in supermarkets, Oxfam and independent stores and delicatessens all over the country.  The winning combination of delicious chocolate and a business model, bringing together the Fairtrade guarantee and a 45% stake giving the farmers a sizeable share in profits, has won both hearts and minds here in the UK, and has now been introduced in USA.  Divine has also reached across Holland, and Scandinavia and reached South Korea and Kuwait.

Divine Chocolate has also recently been awarded Best Social Enterprise of 2007, Good Housekeeping Favourite Fairtrade Product, and the SHE Magazine Ethical Award 2007.

Ends

For further information please contact Charlotte Borger on 020 7378 6550, or charlotte@divinechocolate.com

Editor’s notes:

• For more details about the Divine range of Fairtrade chocolate and the story of Divine and Kuapa Kokoo visit www.divinechocolate.com

• For sales and stockist enquiries contact alistair@divinechocolate.com or find more details on www.divinechocolate.com

• Divine Chocolate Ltd is co-owned by Kuapa Kokoo, a co-operative of 45000 cocoa farmers in Ghana who grow the Fairtrade beans for Divine and Dubble, and who share in the profits.

• All Divine products carry the Fairtrade Mark. This is an independent guarantee certified by the Fairtrade Foundation that the ingredients are sourced under internationally agreed fair trade terms and conditions. These include a guaranteed, secure minimum price, an extra social premium payment for the farmers to invest in their own community programmes, long term trading contracts, decent health and safety conditions – all aimed at empowering farmers to increase their ability to be self sufficient.