I stopped in at Melrose Arch earlier with my mom and the kids and we came across a sight that made us pay attention…
You see Cadbury had set up a stand in the square to promote it Fairtrade chocolate.
What is Fairtrade you may ask? Well from the Fairtrade Label South Africa website:
Fairtrade is an alternative approach to conventional trade and a global movement that stands for sustainability and development through trade.
Dating back to the 1960s, Fairtrade started with small initiatives by individuals or groups (usually faith-based organisations or social entrepreneurs) that wanted to make a difference in developing countries by buying their products in an ethical manner. This included paying fairer prices and establishing direct trading partnerships with producers, thereby sharing knowledge and information on production and market and quality requirements.
You can read a more in depth description here.
The stand at Melrose Arch involved moving from station to station learning about what Cadbury and Fairtrade are all about. Justice, Cocoa and Joy each gave a brief and informative talk as we moved to each station and then Aaron got to make his very own Cadbury Faircrow 🙂
Fairtrade Cadbury Dairy Milk chocolate bars are for sale in store as we speak and I for one am very excited to be able to buy them.
I think the whole Fairtrade organisation is a wonderful example in empowerment and in alleviating poverty.
Unfortunately Cadbury South Africa doesnt seem to have their own Facebook or Twitter profiles but you can follow Fairtrade Label SA on Facebook and Twitter if you like.
Note: Neither Cadbury nor Fairtrade Label SA asked me to write about this, I stumbled upon the entire thing by accident and it has struck a deep chord with me.