倫理可可混亂

巧克力在這個時代,西方買家越來越意識到影響我們的全球食物鏈對第三世界國家。根據2007年英國環境、食品和農村事務部(DEFRA),超過一半的國家的消費者表示,他們盡量不去購買產品的道德,他們不同意。略小的比例,45%表示,他們將願意支付更合乎要求的食品。乍一看,似乎公司采取這些擔憂。僅僅在過去兩周內,吉百利宣布自己的可可夥伴關係在加納,和雀巢和火星簽署好可可項目內部,建立了伍茲認證。然而,當添加到布魯姆的科特迪瓦農民聯盟,奧蘭國際和布魯姆巧克力(CIFOB),嘉吉和Barry Callebaut世界可可基金會的會員,以及各種公平貿易認證的公司,如神,這個問題開始變得更加複雜。雖然是無禮的建議項目,這在某種程度上保護可可農民是一個壞主意,全球計劃越多,越難解決什麼具體每一個。例如,許多消費者都知道,使用公平貿易的公司標誌必須支付生產者最低工資在那個國家或更多。但吉百利,例如,沒有這樣的基礎水平集,認為相反,加納可可售價高出10%的市場利率,因為其高質量水平高於公平貿易。會發生什麼,如果一年的作物價值下跌,因為,說,惡劣的天氣嗎? Another pertinent issue, one rarely explored, is who regulates these programmes, as Fairtrade is the only independently audited ethical trading scheme, according to Divine. However, even if the generous-minded of us are willing to believe that these schemes often do good, as chocolate multinationals are not always as villainous as often thought, how are consumers meant to spot which products are ethical and which are not? (Incidentally, the issue of big business and profit is almost irrelevant here; firms such as Cadbury have never denied that schemes such as the Cocoa Partnership in Ghana were established to help boost activity, despite what many disgruntled bloggers think). While consumers can read countless company statements and articles on the subject, what really screams "I'm ethical!" is a label. Fairtrade has one, that nifty green and blue symbol that features on the side of food packets, but many of the others do not. Cadbury is currently 'working on communications', while the Utz Certified Good Inside Cocoa Programme label is voluntary. Therefore Mars and Nestle are under no obligation to state whether the cocoa used in their products comes from farmers protected by Utz or not. Do they expect consumers just to take their word for it? In short, rather than confusing the issue further in future, industry players must therefore work with each other, as well as the farmers, to not only come up with a more consistent standard of how cocoa suppliers are treated, but also a fair way of indicating the supply chain to consumers. It would be desperately sad if the Western consumer started to take a jaded and cynical view of the issue of ethical cocoa supply, and if a day comes when nobody has faith in how companies treat the suppliers, it will not only be the farmers who lose out.夏洛特艾爾是Confectionerynews.com和Bakeryandsnacks.com的編輯。她的生活和工作英國和法國。如果你想要評論這篇文章,請電子郵件charlotte.eyre特'decisionnews.com