sweetriot - Sustainable & Responsible Business of the Week

sweetriot (NY NY) makes "all-natural chocolate treats called ‘peaces’, and we work to create a more just and celebrated multicultural world for our next generation." sweetriot gets their all-natural cacao from countries of origin in Latin America and abides by ethical and fair trade sourcing. The finished dark chocolate-covered cacao goodies are packaged in recycled and reusable tins featuring the work of emerging artists. If you don't have local recycling facilities, they encourage you to return your tin to them for recycling.

sweetriot offsets all employee travel and office emissions and offers customers the option to offset CO2 emissions for shipping their order. The company promotes fair HR practices and work-life balance and they also support nonprofits that share similar values and ideals. sweetriot was founded by Sarah Endline in 2005.

Sustainable & Responsible Business of the Week: If they can do it, so can you!

Fair Trade Chocolate: A Sustainable & Responsible Choice

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, have you considered fair trade chocolate? You can find a list of fair trade chocolate producers on the Global Exchange website.

According to Wikipedia, the definition of fair trade is "a trading partnership, based on dialogue, transparency and respect, which seeks greater equity in international trade. It contributes to sustainable development by offering better trading conditions to, and securing the rights of, marginalized producers and workers - especially in the South. Fair trade organizations (backed by consumers) are engaged actively in supporting producers, awareness raising and in campaigning for changes in the rules and practice of conventional international trade."

Another fair trade chocolate producer of interest is Tony's Chocolonely. You may remember founder Teun van de Keuken, a Dutch TV journalist who discovered that most chocolate can be traced back through its supply chain to child slavery in the Ivory Coast. Since slavery is illegal in his home country and in the Ivory Coast, and the purchase of products from illegal activities is a criminal offense, he surrendered himself to police and (unsuccessfully) sought criminal prosecution against himself.

It is also worth noting that the extended Harkin-Engel Protocol deadline is July 2008, in which chocolate producers are expected "to eliminate the worst forms of child labor." The first deadline in 2005 was not met and an extension to July 2008 was granted.

Chocolate: Making Sustainable and Responsible Choices

Did you know the U.S. is the number one consumer of chocolate (an estimated $13 billion a year) and that Halloween, Valentine's Day, and Easter generate the largest sales of chocolate products in the U.S.?

However, the story of chocolate is not so sweet. The media have been reporting on the problem of child labor and child slavery in the cocoa industry since the late 1990s (ABC, CBS, another CBS report, BBC, another BBC report, TIME magazine). There are also several organizations that work to raise awareness of this issue and seek solutions to the problem, including Global Exchange, LaborRights.org, International Labor Rights Forum, CorpWatch, and the World Cocoa Foundation.

In 2001, the Harkin-Engel Protocol was signed which sought to eliminate child slavery and labor by 50% in the cocoa industry by July 2005. By 2005, limited progress had been made (see statement by Harkin & Engel) and an extension of the Protocol was granted to July 2008.

As Halloween approaches, businesses and consumers alike can make sustainable and responsible choices in purchasing chocolate products. One recommendation is Fair Trade or organic chocolate which can be purchased from a number of sources, such as Global Exchange, or search the directory at TransFair USA, or do an Internet search.

Just another example demonstrating the importance of sustainable and responsible business.