Is Fair Trade Certified cocoa available in the US?
As of fall of 2002, you can buy Fair Trade Certified products in the US. Visit www.transfairusa.org/home.html to find a list of companies, which offer Fair Trade Certified™ chocolate products. • Why is Fair Trade cocoa important? Without Fair Trade, small cocoa growers typically have no access to affordable credit and are often forced to sell their crop in advance to middlemen at low prices. In the end, they receive only a fraction of their harvest’s worth. Fair Trade certification cuts out the middlemen by creating direct trade links between buyers and farmer co-operatives and ensures that the farmer receives a fair price. Fair Trade Certified cocoa is especially important now as forced and slave labor has been documented on cocoa plantations in the Ivory Coast, the world’s largest producer of cocoa. The standards for Fair Trade certification ensure that all workers are fairly compensated for their labor and that the International Labor Organization (ILO) guidelines on forced and chil
