It is difficult for a consumer to know what the truth is about
the chocolate they eat.
When the consumer pays more for organic or fair-trade chocolate, of the premium often around a �1, as little as 4
or 5 cents goes to the producer according to Chloe Doutre-Roussel author of The Chocolate Connoisseur
Child labour is still a major issue and the international protocol has a target of 70% reduction in the worst kinds of child labour by 2020. But a boycott would make it worse.
Listen to the Food Programme on Radio 4 The Trouble with Chocolate
I have worked with quite some Fairtrade certified farmers organizations. The Fairtrade premium money (the extra money we pay as consumers) does not go directly to the farmers or farmer families, but to the farmers cooperative, association, confederation or whatsoever. While the public still believes that the Fairtrade money goes straight to the farmer. The way the Fairtrade premium is distributed among the members of that specific farmers organization differs within each organization. I have seen some good examples (Ecuador, Costa Rica) and some bad examples (Tanzania, South Africa). My experience is also that the Fairtrade auditors are in many cases lacking profound knowledge and experience, simply because they are only a few days at a certain location and that is too few to get to know the true situation, the power relations, the level of corruption etc.
Harro Boekhold | Contour Projects