We’re guessing this won’t exactly come as a surprise, but we really love chocolate. Like, a LOT. To be honest, we used to think that we couldn’t possibly love it any more than we already did…But then, about 10 years ago, we took our love affair with chocolate to a whole new level.
That’s when we began directly partnering with Fairtrade cocoa farmers in Côte d’Ivoire to build thriving farms.
By that time we’d already been working with our friends at Fairtrade to pay a higher price—aka the Fairtrade Minimum and Fairtrade Premium—for cocoa. But 2015 was the start of something truly sweet and meaningful, and that’s why we’re here today, one delicious decade later, to celebrate!
OK, so why would we want to pay a higher price for cocoa? Simple: Because we believe everyone deserves their fair share.
But let’s back up. We love making ice cream that makes you, and your tastebuds, happy, but a big part of that is making sure that everybody we work with—farmers, suppliers, employees, and their communities—is happy too. That’s what we call linked prosperity: As we succeed, so should everybody else connected to our business.
That’s why we partnered with Fairtrade in 2015 to get to know the farmers in Côte d’Ivoire who grow the cocoa we use in our flavors—an initiative that’s actually part of a larger program that we call our Living Income Accelerator (LIA). We launched LIA in partnership with Fairtrade in 2013 with the goal of supporting the farmers who grow all of our Fairtrade ingredients.
So when you see the Fairtrade mark on our pints, you know that Fairtrade farmers are being paid a fairer price for their crops, like cocoa, sugar, and vanilla. With this improved income, farmers can invest in their farms, which brings more stability to their futures—which benefits their families and their communities.
There’s no question that everybody loves chocolate. Nobody can get enough of the stuff. But for all the joy it brings us, chocolate is… well, it’s complicated. The truth is, the life of a cocoa farmer is not easy. While you might think the ever-increasing global demand for chocolate would benefit the people who grow cocoa, in fact most of the profits are gobbled up by the biggest chocolate corporations.
A large portion of the world’s cocoa is grown in Côte d'Ivoire. Cocoa farmers depend on the money they can make from their crop, but that varies every year due to things they can’t control—like the increase in extreme and unpredictable weather events fueled by climate change. Côte d'Ivoire produces about 45% of the world’s cocoa beans, yet farmers there earn only US $1.00 a day on average.
In short, farmers need their voices to be amplified. And that’s where Fairtrade comes in. Fairtrade works with farmers and farming cooperatives to make trade (wait for it…) fairer. And by investing in the Fairtrade system, we support resilient livelihoods for farmers, their families, and their communities.
If you ask us, economic justice makes our ice cream taste a whole lot sweeter. While we’re proud of this decade-long (and counting) relationship, it’d be even more satisfying if a whole bunch of other companies partnered up with Fairtrade to support the farmers that they work with as well.
Will you join us in making this dream a reality? Look for that Fairtrade mark on the chocolate you buy—and if it’s not there, get in touch with those companies and ask them why!
Learn more about the benefits of Fairtrade certification now.
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