|
In the US, when we think of Mars candies, Three Muskateers, Milky Way, Mars bars, M & M's Twix, Skittles and Snickers come to mind. Affordable, sentimental, junk food that bring back memories of school and Halloween binges. But Fair Trade? Not likely.
Interestingly enough, according to Wikipedia, the Mars family (known for their secrecy) long ago established their own principles of excellence in their operations: quality, responsibility, mutuality, efficiency, and freedom.
They eschewed Fair Trade as they said that because of private ownership, there is no need to account to anyone but themselves, arguing that its own internal standards deliver even better results. An example is the company's Cocoa Sustainability initiative.
Mars has been criticized for buying cocoa beans from West African farmers who reportedly use unpaid or poorly paid child laborers. In 2009, Mars announced that, as of 2010, the company would only purchase cocoa from suppliers who meet environmental, labor and production standards.
In 2010 Mars did something unimaginable. They broke the code for the gene sequencing of cacao as a way to create cacao that will adapt to the changing climate. While that, in itself, isn't a unique discovery -- Hershey's has claimed that they either have or are close to having done the same -- what sets the Mars family apart is that they didn't patent their finding, preferring to leave it in the public domain for the betterment of farmers! Read more about it here.
So it didn't come as a complete surprise today when I saw that Mars and Fair Trade International are launching a collaborative effort in 2012 with the launch of Maltesers in the UK and Ireland, a move that will contribute more than US$1 million annually in Fairtrade Premium funds for cocoa farmers to invest in their farms, business organizations and communities. The full article is here.
I admit that I could be called a snob for eating mostly 70%+ chocolate, a move that took me nearly a year to achieve as I weaned myself off of milk chocolate. Quite honestly, I did this for health reasons as well as wanting to support Fair Trade. But my hat is off to Mars for taking a major leap in the right direction for the benefit of the thousands of tropical farmers who toil to bring us the chocolate we crave. Ironically, most of these farmers don't have access to or can afford the chocolate treats we can buy nearly everywhere. Perhaps the next step Mars should take is to make sure the farmers receive some Mars chocolate as part of the bargain.
 |
Subscribe to this comment's feed
