In 1994, after introducing the UK’s first Fairtrade chocolate, the company received the Worldaware Business Award for contributions to the development of poorer nations. In 2005 it was sold to Cadbury-Schweppes for an estimated £20m.
London-based Cadbury-Schweppes is the world’s largest confectionary company, reporting an annual turnover of £7.4 billion in 2006 alone. It has repeatedly been challenged for failing to demonstrate responsible industry leadership.
In 2002, a report by the US International Institute of Tropical Agriculture highlighted the exploitation of child labour by cocoa plantations in west Africa supplying Cadbury- Schweppes. In 2006, London’s City University released a report criticising Cadbury- Schweppes, among others, for failing to meet WHO targets to cut its products’ salt and sugar content.
This article first appeared in the Ecologist December 2007
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