A fairer chocolate

Divine Chocolate is celebrating 15 years of partnership with Christian Aid to change our chocolate consumption.

It may be one of the nation's favourite treats, but the two organisations are concerned that the people who help to make it don't always receive a fair share.

Divine Chocolate dared to do things differently when it was established in 1998 as a Fairtrade company owned by a cooperative of cocoa farmers in Ghana.

The company was supported by Christian Aid from the start to empower farmers and help them make a sustainable living from their crop.

Paul Langley, Head of Inspiring Participation at Christian Aid, says: "Christian Aid supports Fairtrade as a movement pushing to change the inequities of world trade which are keeping the world's smallholder farmers in poverty.

"But Divine goes further – and this company has inspired and mobilised our network which has, in turn, seen real change happen through its support of this trailblazing brand."

Not only does Divine aspire to make scrumptious chocolate, it also works to mobilise consumer power, promote fairtrade at the international level, and educate the next generation of young people in why they should purchase fairly traded products.

Sophi Tranchell MBE, Managing Director of Divine Chocolate adds: "Christian Aid and its supporters have always gone further to campaign for social justice."

"In the early days, when Divine was really just a good idea with only one bar and very little presences in the supermarkets, Christian Aid ran a Stock the Choc campaign.

"Their wonderful network of supporters handed in postcards to get them to stock Divine because they wanted to see a farmer-owned company succeed and the campaign was a success. Divine got full distribution in Sainsbury's and has never looked back.

"It was one of the first examples of consumers really exerting their purchasing power in a positive way."