The Real Cost Of Chocolate

Your chocolate Easter Egg might not taste so sweet when you consider that with each bite you are supporting an industry where children are forced to work long hours in dangerous conditions instead of going to school.

About 70% of the cocoa beans used to make chocolate around the world come from West Africa, with Ivory Coast and Ghana among the biggest producers. Criminal networks have been caught moving children across regions and international borders to work on cocoa farms. There are claims that in the worst cases children as young as six are being forced to work 80-100 hours a week, enduring beatings and malnutrition.

THE BODY SHOP & COCOA
We use a lot of cocoa! Its in every one of our body butters and we sell one of those every two minutes in Australia alone! The Body Shop values the human rights of the Cocoa Farmers in Ghana through our Community Trade program. We're proud that our Community Trade program:

• creates jobs for over 50,000 small-scale Cocoa farmers that are members of the Kuapa Kokoo Ltd Farmers Cooperative in Ghana.
• pays them a social premium to help fund basic necessities such as wells,health and education for the wider community.
• makes us the third largest user of fair trade cocoa beans in the UK.
• gave us the opportunity to donate $AUD 591,506 of capital to the Day Chocolate Company (partly owned by Kuapa Kokoo and now Divine - a world leader in fair trade chocolate).
• guarantees that no child labour is used in the cocoa farming process
  

So I think we can safely say - as a company we have helped to address the child trafficking problem in West Africa. But it's not enough, we can do more as individuals to totally eradicate all child labour contained in our chocolate. Here's how....

BE A GOOD SHOPPER
It's so easy. Just always choose fair trade chocolate that's guaranteed not to use cocoa sourced using child labour! Download the Good Chocolate Guide to find out which brands to support.

LOBBY YOUR LOCAL SUPERMARKET
Hand this coupon to the retailer where you buy your favourite chocolate and mention why you are doing it!

LOBBY THE CHOCOLATE MANUFACTURERS
Print and send this letter to the manufacturer of your favourite chocolate c/o The Confectionery Manufacturers of Australasia. Let them know that you believe they have a clear responsibility to actively address the problems!

SPREAD THE WORD
Forward this email to a friend, colleague or family member.

For more on this campaign check out World Vision's Don't Trade Lives website, which includes more information on child trafficking, events and links to activist groups you can join.



Adam Valvasori - Values Manager