Cadbury’s Factory Flooded with Flowers Following Fairtrade Announcement
Over 200 Dunedin residents turned out this morning in front of the Cadbury factory to show their support for the company’s decision to bring Fairtrade certification to the flagship Cadbury’s Dairy Milk block by early 2010.
Flowers covered the entrance of the factory, with residents also handing flowers to Cadbury employees as they turned up for work, holding up signs of support for Cadbury and handing them personal messages of thanks.
Carol Williamson, local resident and Dunedin business owner said: “this just shows that young and old people alike in New Zealand do care about extreme poverty and are willing to go out and make an effort to thank Cadbury’s for this bold move”.
Cadbury’s decision to go Fairtrade with the Dairy Milk line means that cocoa farmers in Ghana will receive the Faritrade minimum price or higher for their products, as well as benefiting from Fairtrade premiums of over AUS$500,000 in the first year alone from Australian and New Zealand Cadbury Dairy Milk sales.
Cadbury announced on Tuesday that the move to launch the new Fairtrade line next year was in response to consumer pressure. Hugh Evans, founder of the Global Poverty Project, who organised the show of support for Cadbury in Dunedin today said: “The move to Fairtrade by Cadbury is so exciting because it illustrates the power of the consumer in bringing about change for the benefit of the world’s poor.”
Hugh Evans is currently touring New Zealand with the Global Poverty Project’s presentation of ‘1.4 Billion Reasons’, that aims to educate ordinary citizens about ways they can take practical action in eradicating extreme poverty.
Last night at the Dunedin Town Hall around 1000 people turned up to see ‘1.4 Billion Reasons’, and buying Fairtrade labelled products was just one of the practical steps Hugh outlined that individuals can take to make a difference in bringing an end to poverty. As Hugh said, “We do not just vote every three years for our elected representatives, we get to vote every single day with the things that we purchase at the local store”.
Hugh and his team at the Global Poverty Project hope that the move by Cadbury and the show of support from consumers may push other manufacturers such as Lindtt, Nestle and Whittakers to also go Fairtrade.
The tour of ‘1.4 Billion Reasons’ continues today with a presentation in Christchurch this evening at 7pm in Majestic Theatre, with more presentations across New Zealand over the coming week. More information can be found at www.globalpovertyproject.com.
Read more about the Cadbury announcement.
