Kraft Foods takes over Cadbury PLC
On Monday 19th January 2010, Kraft Foods announced that their offer to buy Cadbury had been accepted by the company’s Board.
This move has been criticized by those worried about the loss of a British
company and British jobs. For STOP THE TRAFFIK, the main concern is whether
Cadbury’s recent progress towards producing chocolate free of trafficked child
labour is in danger of being reversed.
Last year, after campaigning by STOP THE TRAFFIK and others, Cadbury was the
first major chocolate manufacturer to respond by introducing a Fair Trade Dairy
Milk into the UK and Ireland. When the rest of the world continued to exert
pressure, the bar was extended to Canada, Australia, and New Zealand. This was
a small victory in the fight against the worst forms of child labour in the
Ivory Coast, and other companies soon followed Cadbury’s lead.
Kraft has promised that the values and heritage of Cadbury will not be lost in
the takeover. But the company has not yet commented on what this means for
Cadbury’s commitments to sourcing traffik-free cocoa. STOP THE TRAFFIK is aware
that Kraft has already pledged to certify their Cote D’Or range in Belgium with
the Rainforest Alliance by 2012. We urge it to continue in this direction by
preserving the Fair Trade Dairy Milk, and expanding the number of products it
makes using traffik-free cocoa.
The takeover of Cadbury is a victory for Kraft Foods. The company must not
tarnish its success by abandoning its responsibility to its consumers, its
employees, and the children of West Africa.
"For any brand that has a history as long as Cadbury, the brand matters. Namesmatter. It matters because of how their beginnings spoke about why and how they
were set up. The recent developments for Cadbury in establishing a Fair Trade,traffik free Dairy milk bar are very significant. Any potential takeover must
protect these intentions and changes for the sake of Cadbury. But whatever happens and however many brands are around on chocolate bar wrappers, STOP THE
TRAFFIK will continue to campaign until we see the global chocolate industry eradicate trafficking from the supply chain and fill our shelves with traffik
free chocolate."
Ruth Dearnley, CEO, STOP THE TRAFFIK
PRESS ENQUIRIES
For more information on STOP THE TRAFFIK activities, please email bex.keer@stopthetraffik.org or call the International
Office on +44 (0)207 921 4258. Alternatively,
visit the websites http://www.stopthetraffik.org/takeaction/chocolate/nestle.aspx and
www.stopthetraffik.org
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