WHAT IS FAIRTRADE?

Fairtrade aims to build dignified trading relationships between consumers in the North and producers in developing countries. This involves changing the way that conventional international trade works, so that:

• Producers receive a guaranteed price for their goods, and the security of long term trading contracts.
• Producers benefit from guaranteed minimum health and safety conditions.
• Producers, their workplace and the environment are not exploited.
• Education and training opportunities for producers, especially women and children, are actively fostered.

Divine Chocolate is licensed by the Fairtrade Foundation, the independent UK regulator of fair trade, and each of its products meets the conditions set by the Foundation to allow them to carry the Fairtrade Mark. Fairtrade is governed Europe wide by the Fairtrade Labelling Organisation (FLO), which sets recognised price and development criteria for products which carry the fair trade mark. There are over 2000 products bearing the Fairtrade Mark on sale in the UK. These include a variety of chocolates, teas, coffees, honey, nuts, rice, sugar, bananas, mangoes, pineapples and fruit juice.

Divine Chocolate has taken the concept of Fairtrade a step further. Kuapa Kokoo, the farmers' co-operative that produces the cocoa for Divine, also owns almost a half of the shares in the company. The farmers' participation in the running of Divine is unique in the Fairtrade world, and means that producers thousands of miles away now play an active role in decisions about how Divine is produced and sold, as well as sharing in the profits.

Find out more about the Fairtrade Foundation and FLO.