Archbishop of York praises Nestlé for Fair Trade Kit Kat

The Archbishop of York welcomes the Nestlé introduction of its Fair Trade Kit Kat bar.

The Archbishop of York has praised Nestlé for “going beyond the profit margin” with the launch of its Fairtrade Kit Kat.

Dr John Sentamu witnessed the production of the first Fairtrade version of the chocolate biscuit bar at Nestlé’s factory in York.

The launch of the Fairtrade four finger bar follows calls from the Archbishop, members of the public and groups like Stop the Traffik for the ethical production of chocolate.

“It goes to show people can make a difference,” he said. “The fact that Nestlé have listened to local campaigners and invested considerable time, effort and financial support to make this Fairtrade biscuit a reality is fantastic news.”
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Speaking of workers he visited on a cocoa co-operative in the Ivory Coast, he said the Fairtrade Kit Kat was a “step forward in giving them the justice, recognition and pay they deserve”.

He said the next step for the confectioner was to make all its other products Fairtrade, including his personal favourite, the Yorkie bar.

Posted by Ann Fontaine on December 10, 2009 5:30 PM | |
Comments (4)

Lovely. Still not a word about the anti-gay legislation in the land of his birth, but a Fairtrade candy bar, *that* warrants a statement from His Grace.

Posted by Viriato da Silva [TypeKey Profile Page] | December 10, 2009 6:15 PM

Seems the "Fairtrade" Kit Kat will be a pretty small portion of Nestlé's output:

http://boycottnestle.blogspot.com/2009/12/nestle-fairtrade-two-fingers.html

Posted by Roger Mortimer [TypeKey Profile Page] | December 10, 2009 6:27 PM

I'm entirely embarrassed for the Archbishop of York. Isn't that a university town? How is it that the local student population isn't nailing protests on the Minster door? He's too busy talking about Kit-Kats to address the sufferings of LGBT people in sub-saharan Africa at the hands of corrupt governments in bed with his fellow Anglican prelates? SHAME. I hope you're reading this, York.
People like you lead struggling Christians like me to Buddhism.

Posted by Clint Davis [TypeKey Profile Page] | December 12, 2009 2:19 AM

Fair Trade is harmful idea that makes some people in the West feel good. Good intentions to not absolve negative consequences.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cif-green/2009/dec/12/fair-trade-fairtrade-kitkat-farmers

(economist Paul Collier argues that Fairtrade effectively ensures that people "get charity as long as they stay producing the crops that have locked them into poverty". Fairtrade reduces the incentive to diversify crop production and encourages the utilisation of resources on marginal land that could be better employed for other produce. The organisation also appears wedded to an image of a notional anti-modernist rural idyll.)

(2) By guaranteeing a minimum price, Fairtrade also encourages market oversupply, which depresses global commodity prices. This locks Fairtrade farmers into greater Fairtrade dependency and further impoverishes farmers outside the Fairtrade umbrella. Economist Tyler Cowen describes this as the "parallel exploitation coffee sector".

(3) Marc Sidwell points out, while Mexico has 51 Fairtrade producers, Burundi has none, Ethiopia four and Rwanda just 10 – meaning that "Fairtrade pays to support relatively wealthy Mexican coffee farmers at the expense of poorer nations".

(4) The vast majority of the money from Fairtrade sales remains in the west – with only about 5% of the Fairtrade sale price actually making it back to the farmers.

(5) Coffee farms must not be more than 12 acres in size and they are not allowed to employ any full-time workers. This means that during harvest season migrant workers must be employed on short-term contracts. These rural poor are therefore expressly excluded from the stability of long-term employment by Fairtrade rules.

Posted by John B. Chilton [TypeKey Profile Page] | December 12, 2009 1:50 PM

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