Making a Difference in Progress

So before taking my first ever trip to Whole Foods in search of Fair-Trade chocolate last week I decided to contact some of my more regular haunts to see if they carried any fair-trade stuff or if they had plans to.  I e-mailed CVS, Stop and Shop, Hannaford, Target, Wal-mart and Shaws.  This was about nine days ago and at this time I have only gotten three responses.  I have cut and pasted them below.

CVS:

Ms. Grady Harper,

Thank you for your email regarding your suggestion that we sell Fair Trade Chocolate. I am eager to respond. We do not sell this product at this time however, I would be more than happy to forward your request to our product team for future consideration.

We appreciate your feedback and we take our customer's comments very seriously. If you would like to discuss the matter further, please call us at 1-800-746-7287. We are available Monday through Friday 8:30 am - 7 pm ET.

Have a great day.

Dee
CVS Customer Relations

Target:

Dear Elizabeth Grady Harper,

We appreciate the time you've taken to let us know what you're looking for at Target. I'm sorry but we doesn't carry Fairtrade chocolate at Target.

Hearing your feedback is very important because it helps us learn more about the merchandise you want and need from Target. Although I can't promise we'll carry this item, I'll let our Buying team know you'd like to see it at your local store.

Thanks for letting us know how we can make your Target experience even better.

Sincerely,

Maqsood

Target Guest Relations

 

Hannaford:

April 15, 2013

Dear Ms. Grady-Harper:

Thank you for contacting Hannaford. We are pleased to have the opportunity to respond.

I am writing you in response to your inquiry regarding Fairtrade Chocolate. Our merchandising team has advised that in our Milford Hannaford in our Nature Place Energy Bar section you will find such options as LaraBar and others. Please look for the Fair Trade Certified Symbol. We hope you find this helpful.

Again, thank you for contacting Hannaford. If we can further assist you, Ms. Grady-Harper, please do not hesitate to let us know.

Sincerely,

Lacey Greene
Consumer Research Specialist

Ref 3239368/lacgre

I think Hannaford is referring to an Energy Bar but I haven’t checked it out.

So nothing from Wal-Mart, Shaws or Stop and Shop yet.

Here’s what I am thinking we should do.  E-mail, call or stop by customer service at places we would regularly buy chocolate and 1. Ask if they carry Fair-trade chocolate and 2. If they don’t let them know we’d like them to.

It could be something like this:

I was wondering if you carry any fair-trade chocolate.  If you don’t at this time do you have plans to do so?  I have recently become aware of the fact that most chocolate is made with cocoa farmed by child slaves in West Africa.  I have decided that I will no longer buy this chocolate from your store or anywhere.  I would hope that your company would be concerned about the issue of child slavery as well and begin to stock fair-trade chocolate in order to support those companies that have made a conscious choice to support cocoa plantations that do not use slave labor.

Or anyway you want to say it. I think it would make a difference if a number of people start to express a desire for Fair-trade in the stores they shop.  I can’t really see another way these mainstream stores will start carrying it other than hearing from customers who want them to.  It's a start anyway and this action step has a part B - ask your friends, family and co-workers to do the same.  I truly believe more people would be involved in causes like this trying to make a difference if they were only made aware of the problem and given a way to participate in affecting change.  I guess that's what I am trying to do here . . .so tell people about the problem, tell them about this blog, encourage them to seek out knowledge and to act whatever works . . .

So that’s our Action Step 3 – contact stores we shop and urge them to carry Fair-trade and spread the word.

And BTW my Mom wanted me to mention Ghiradelli as I failed to include them in my taste test last week.  Ghiradelli is not Fair-trade but the company has issued a statement saying their cocoa comes from farms in Central and South America where child slavery is not an issue.  So in that sense they are safe. As for taste if we want to evaluate Ghiradelli there’s just one word – DELICIOUS!  I have yet to meet a piece of Ghiradelli I didn’t absolutely love!