03 February 2009
Cocoa farmers from Ghana in UK to celebrate ten years of Fairtrade and owning Divine
Fairtrade Fortnight February 23rd – March 8th 2009
Divine Chocolate, the leading Fairtrade company co-owned by the Kuapa Kokoo farmers’ co-operative in Ghana, is inviting two members of Kuapa to join them here for Fairtrade Fortnight 2009 (23rd February – 8th March). As this is Divine’s 10th anniversary year there is a Decade of change and improvement in the lives of cocoa farmers’ lives in Ghana to tell people about at events throughout Fairtrade Fortnight this year.
The ‘Decade of Divine’ tour is travelling across the UK with Mr Mensah from Enchi in the Western Region of Ghana and Mr Adiyiah from Kokofu in the Bekwai Area. They will be visiting London, followed by the West Country, then on to Newcastle and the North East. This will also coincide with a touring photographic exhibition of stunning images of the Kuapa Kokoo cooperative. There will of course be many opportunities to discover and sample delicious Divine chocolate along the way.
Divine Chocolate and the two Kuapa farmers will be attending a variety of public and private events and talking to schoolchildren, shoppers and retailers, church groups and local businesses, government officials and Fairtrade steering committees. They will be telling their story of how Fairtrade, and owning a chocolate company, has transformed their lives over the past decade – and in turn they’ll be learning how much we love chocolate here in the UK!
This year Divine will be stopping over in London, Bristol, Bath, Newcastle, North Tyneside, Gateshead, Sunderland, Durham, Leeds and Wakefield. The current schedule includes the launch of Fairtrade Fortnight on London’s South Bank followed by events to which the farmers have been invited at LSE, Kingston University and schools across London. Next on the schedule is the West Country where the farmers will be the guests of honour at a filming and press event at The Co-operative premises in Keynsham and a Fairtrade Fashion Show in Bristol Cathedral. The farmers will then be heading up to the North-East for the second week of Fairtrade Fortnight. Highlights include a reception by Newcastle’s Fairtrade City group, a presentation by the farmers at the Roxy Cinema in Tyneside, a special meeting with the Mayor of North Tyneside, a farmer presentation and workshop at Sunderland University, and a function with Durham City Fairtrade Partnership.
Mr Anane Mensah, aged 41, is Kuapa Kokoo’s Area President for the Enchi region. He is also a Recorder; a highly respected role which is of vital importance to the structure and organisation of Kuapa Kokoo. Only those who are trusted across the community and are fellow farmers are elected to take on the role of a Recorder which involves accurately weighing the cocoa and paying farmers the correct price accordingly. Mr Mensah is married with two children.
Mr James Adiyiah, aged 62, is the Recorder for the Kokofu community. He is married with seven children. He and his family have benefitted greatly from Kuapa and Fairtrade – he has been able to educate his children, several of whom are now studying at university. His community has also seen some real benefits. A number of local women have received financial loans via Kuapa which they have invested in soap-making and tie-dye cottage industries. Encouraging women’s empowerment through investing in diversification schemes such as these remain key to Kuapa Kokoo’s ethos.
Each year the opportunity to meet, talk with, and hear the stories of cocoa farmers firsthanad has had a profound impact on thousands of people nationwide. It is these encounters that really bring home the significant impact Fairtrade can have and the power we have as consumers to really make change happen. Fairtrade Fortnight has played an important part in Divine’s growth and popularity over the years – as people have chosen the chocolate that gives them this closer connection with farmers in the developing world.
As well as speaking and attending a variety of events during Fairtrade Fortnight, Divine Chocolate and the Kuapa farmers will be offering samples of Divine – the heavenly chocolate with a heart, made using only the very finest cocoa beans grown by Kuapa Kokoo members like Mr Mensah and Mr Adiyiah. Farmers who belong to Kuapa Kokoo take their slogan ‘Pa pa paa’ (which means ‘Best of the best’) very seriously, and they will be very pleased and proud to be telling people in the UK the Divine story, as well as sharing out their very special chocolate.
Over the two hundred years since the chocolate industry’s philanthropic beginnings, chocolate has become a multi-billion pound global business which has bowed to the voracious demands of shareholders. But in 1998 a new chocolate company was launched to prove that the chocolate industry doesn’t have to be this way. Divine Chocolate was born when a co-operative of farmers in Ghana set up their own company in the UK. Today Divine has a turnover of £12 million and is a multi award-winning example of an equitable trading relationship with smallholder farmers in Africa.
“..Happy 10th birthday Divine!! You grow even more beautiful with age! Congratulations on a wonderfully successful decade. You do such important work, empowering the farmers of Kuapa Kokoo - which is truly heart warming and encouraging. I'm seeing Divine in increasingly more outlets and I smile to myself every time. You will always have my support and long may you continue to grow and expand…”
Freema Agyeman, star of Dr Who and Torchwood
Ends
Please contact Charlotte Borger or Rosanna Mayhew on 0207 378 6550 for images and more information.
Editors 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 make their own improvements to living standards and prospects for the future
• Divine Chocolate has won a number of prestigious awards. These include Good Housekeeping’s Favourite Fairtrade Product 2008 and Best Food Brand in the SHE magazine Ethical Awards 2007. Divine Chocolate Ltd was awarded Best Social Enterprise 2007 at the Enterprising Solutions awards run by the Office of the Third Sector.
• The UK chocolate market alone is worth approximately £3.4 billion a year: if Fairtrade products can capture even a small proportion of that market, producers in developing countries gain real benefits