Green & Black's founder backs Fairtrade mark

The founder of Green & Black's has backed the Fairtrade Foundation saying the mark has a role to play despite some major supermarkets and producers looking to move away from the certification scheme.
Chris Stott with Jo Fairley.Chris Stott with Jo Fairley.
Chris Stott with Jo Fairley.

Jo Fairley, co-founder of Green & Black’s, believes that unless producers can develop better practices than Fairtrade they should stick with the scheme.

She told The Yorkshire Post: “Unless they can seriously do something better than the Fairtrade mark, it is a great standard. I’ve seen it transform the lives of entire communities. It’s incredibly powerful.”

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Mondelez, the current owner of Green & Black’s, has come under scrutiny for removing the Fairtrade mark from its Velvet Edition range. However, Ms Fairley defended the decision as she believes Mondelez is building on the foundations laid by Fairtrade.

jo fairley: Everywhere I look even really big business is trying to change the way it does things.jo fairley: Everywhere I look even really big business is trying to change the way it does things.
jo fairley: Everywhere I look even really big business is trying to change the way it does things.

She said: “I’m incredibly proud of what Cadburys is doing and what Mondelez, which is the parent company, is doing. They have set up a £400m programme called Cocoa Life, which is directly inspired by what we did at Green & Black’s. The programme is working with producers, paying fairer prices. It has been set up in partnership with the Fairtrade Foundation.

“Basically, the Fairtrade Foundation still monitors the Cocoa Life scheme but they’ve put the Cocoa Life logo on.

“Cocoa Life goes beyond the Fairtrade scheme. It’s about women’s empowerment. It’s about education. It’s about all sorts of things that aren’t actually covered by Fairtrade Foundation.”

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Ms Fairley, formerly a journalist, said it drove her “insane” that despite giving three hours of interviews to the press “not one single quote was used because it didn’t fit with their headline ‘Green & Black’s drops Fair Trade’”.

jo fairley: Everywhere I look even really big business is trying to change the way it does things.jo fairley: Everywhere I look even really big business is trying to change the way it does things.
jo fairley: Everywhere I look even really big business is trying to change the way it does things.

Ms Fairley spoke to a business audience at KPMG in Leeds about her “rollercoaster” journey from journalist to entrepreneur.

Businesses that create a strong set of shared values find it easier to retain staff as employees want to work for companies that have a sense of purpose, she said.

“With people far less likely to stay in one job these days, the advantage for companies is when you have these people who have bonded over a set of shared values you get much better staff retention,” Ms Fairley said.

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Companies are now embracing more sustainable and diverse ideas, the entrepreneur said, and they are also “much more accountable these days”.

“You can go on to Twitter if you don’t like what a company is doing, you can go on a Facebook page,” she added. “Everywhere I look even really big business is trying to change the way it does things.”

Chris Stott, KPMG’s food and drink sector lead and deal advisory partner, said: “Jo Fairley’s talk about her journey with Green & Blacks, from start-up to sale, was not only inspirational to our roomful of privately owned business directors, but really captured the excitement, fear and pride that goes hand in hand with entrepreneurship and growing a business.”

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