Int Business Chocalte Slavetrade vs Fair Trade free essay sample

According to Statistics Canada, Canadians purchase 6. 7 kilograms of chocolate per person each year. An article by the London Daily Telegraphs Rachel Bird warns, Up to 40 percent of the chocolate we eat may be contaminated by slavery. Ivory Coast is the worlds biggest producer of cocoa beans with over a million cocoa farms and plantations. A British TV documentary, Slavery, claims 90 percent of Ivory Coast cocoa plantations use slave labor. Most are young men and boys from impoverished areas inBenign, Togo and Mali are enticed by traffickers who promise them paid work, housing and an education. Instead, they are sold to Ivory Coast cocoa plantation owners who beat them into submission and offer no pay for grueling, 18-hour days. What does the fair trade label mean? Organizations like the U. K. s Fair Trade Foundation and Transfix Canada certify products which meet the principles of the fair trade system. Fair trade means products are purchased directly and at a fair price from small family growers and co operatives that do not rely on hired or illegal forced labor. We will write a custom essay sample on Int Business Chocalte Slavetrade vs Fair Trade or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Growers receive a minimum guaranteed price that covers real production costs, regardless of how low world market prices fall. Fair trade also promotes sustainable agricultural practices which use minimal or no pesticides. On small, family- owned farms, cocoa plants are usually inter-cropped. In contrast, Ivory Coast plantations utilize intensive farming techniques which boosted cocoa production by 95 percent in the 1 9805. More and bigger plantations have caused Ivory Coast rainforests to be literally slashed from 12 million hectares in 1 960 to 2. 6 million hectares today, devastating the areas biodiversity.Every time a chocolate bar is sold, low-income cocoa farmers in Ghana not only receive a fair price for their cocoa beans, but as part owners of the Day Chocolate Company, they receive their share of the profits. To the cocoa growers a fair trade means making the most amount of profit disregarding the conditions of which that profit was made from.