SINGAPORE – Ben & Jerry’s announces its commitment to go fully Fair Trade across
its entire global flavor portfolio. From Cherry Garcia to Chocolate Fudge
Brownie, all of the flavors in all of the countries where Ben & Jerry’s is sold
will be converted to Fair Trade Certified ingredients by the end of 2013.
Ben & Jerry’s was the first ice cream company in the world to use Fair Trade
Certified ingredients starting in 2005, and today it’s racing ahead as the
first ice cream company to make such a significant commitment to Fair Trade
across its global portfolio.
Company co-founder Jerry Greenfield said, Fair Trade is about making sure
people get their fair share of the pie. The whole concept of Fair Trade goes to
the heart of our values and sense of right and wrong. Nobody wants to buy
something that was made by exploiting somebody else.
Ben & Jerry’s Fair Trade commitment means that every ingredient that can be
sourced Fair Trade Certified, now or in the future, is Fair Trade Certified.
Globally, this involves converting up to 121 different chunks and swirls,
working across eleven different ingredients such as cocoa, banana, vanilla and
other flavorings, fruits and nuts. It also means working with Fair Trade
cooperatives that total a combined membership of over 27,000 farmers.
Rob Cameron, Chief Executive of Fairtrade Labelling Organizations International
(FLO) said, Congratulations to Ben & Jerry’s on the scale and the depth of this
commitment to take their whole range Fair Trade. Tackling poverty and
sustainable agriculture through trade may not be easy but it is always worth it,
and Ben & Jerry’s has demonstrated real leadership in laying out this long-term
ambition to engage with smallholders, who grow nuts, bananas, vanilla, cocoa and
other Fair Trade-certified ingredients. Ben & Jerry’s, like all of us in the
Fair Trade movement, believe that people can have fun standing up to injustice
and campaigning against poverty while enjoying some of Ben & Jerry’s
best-selling favorites like Phish Food and Chocolate Fudge Brownie, how cool is
that.
Farmers selling Fair Trade products earn a better income, which allows them to
stay on their land. Fair Trade premiums also allow for reinvestment in their
farms, their families, their communities and their future. Fair Trade means that
certified farmers are using environmentally sound practices to grow and harvest
their crops in a sustainable way.
About Ben & Jerry’s
Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Inc., was founded in 1978 in a renovated gas station in
Burlington, Vermont, USA, by childhood friends and dedicated activists Ben Cohen
and Jerry Greenfield. The two friends started their ice cream careers with a $5
ice cream making correspondence course from Penn State University and a $12,000
investment ($4,000 of which was borrowed). They soon became popular in the local
community for their innovative flavours, made from fresh Vermont milk and cream
and large portions of whatever ingredients they felt tasted good on the day of
making! While they both disagreed at times over flavour combinations, what they
did both agree was that they were in this business to create some good in the
world and enjoy themselves while they earned a living. Ben & Jerry’s, a Vermont
corporation and wholly-owned subsidiary of Unilever, operates its business on a
three-part Mission Statement emphasizing product quality, economic reward and a
commitment to the community. The goal of the company’s social mission is to
integrate a concern for the community into as many day to day business
operations as possible while maintaining the product and economic missions. The
move to fair trade ingredients is driven by that commitment.
Source:
Ben & Jerry’s