Is Bloomsberry fair?
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During the holiday season I noticed that among the food display in Myer there was some chocolate from a New Zealand chocolate company called Bloomsberry. Interestingly, on the back of their chocolate bars Bloomsberry writes of their commitment to fair trade and that they use fair trade chocolate and sugar! While probably more well known for their pack designs, some of them are quite clever, I thought it was interesting that no one had mentioned them to me before as a fair trade option. 
On their website there is no mention of fair trade that I can find, and their is no fair trade label on any of their products so I’m a bit skeptical about their fair trade claims, I have sent them an email so will let you know if they reply. If anyone else knows more please let me know.
One warning if you were planning on buying these as a nice fair trade gift for somebody, I’ve given samples to a number of friends and family and everyone has had a negative response to it. It reminds them of “easter egg” chocolate as my best man put it, oily and cheap. And with one shop in Barwon Heads selling it for $12 a block (!) it’s not cheap.
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7 Comments, Comment or Ping
Giles
Hi
Thanks for the positive comments about the design as the team at Out of the Blue did them. In talking with the Bloomsberry people (a lot) I can make the following observations about trading fairly.
The claims made are quite general re believing in fair trade. The reason is simple Bloomsberry can’t make specific claims about fair trade. that can be verified. all of the fair trade chocolate that Bloosmberry have come accross in this part of the world seems to come from Europe ( Belgium or Switzerland). They have chosen to make chocolate from sratch using local (regional ingredients) to do this they have traded with companies in Countries that in the main trade fairly . To Bloomsberry Fair trade does not just mean third world Countries. The ingredients they need to make the bars they can get from round here from people they know something about. Its not a perfect system and it doesn’t come with any fancy Fairtrade logos authorised in Europe but it seems to work.
I should note that the chocolate recipes have changed in the last three months for Australia and Bloomsberry are sure of a more positive response to the chocolate itself in Australia.
In New Zealand there have not been any issues re taste (of any significance)so it might be a frieghting issue as currently the bars come from New Zealand . Although they are working on making in Australia for Australia and New Zealand for New Zealand to cut the freight element down. This is their practice- For example in the US Bloomsberry bars are made in the US
Feb 7th, 2007
devonwhittle
Hi Giles,
Thanks for the information. So does that mean Bloomsberry gets cocoa from New Zealand? That would be cool if as I’m guessing NZ has labour laws and stuff that protect their workers. It would be great to have more info of that on their website, detailing why they think it is fair.
In regards to taste, my sister and brother in law love Bloomsberry the best of all, and I tried a piece that was sitting in our fridge and it tasted a lot better then I remembered! So maybe Myer just had the blocks sitting in a hot room somewhere for too long or something.
I like the idea of trying to cut down on freight - local is always better.
Feb 7th, 2007
Zoe Kirkaman
Hey guys i was interested in this aswel. I also went on to their website and as you said there wasn’t a mention of fair trade. You’d think if they could guarantee that it was fair trade they would advertise it. Also just wondering i know that nestle is on of the companies that uses the slave trade but on the back of their coffee they go own about how they are helping coffee farmers and research so whats theydeal with that.
one more thing devonwhittle while you attitude on fair trade is awesome i can’t help but think youve never been to New Zealand. I live here and im pretty certain there arnt any cocoa plantations in New Zealand its not exactly a tropical climate. Olives yes wine definately cocoa… doubt it
Apr 18th, 2007
Devon Whittle
Hey zoe, Nestle is one of the King’s of marketing so they’ll trumpet how helpful they are to farmers. They do have their own internal scheme which helps farmers develop their product and so get a better price, but they haven’t really been open enough to sign their whole production process up to a third-party accreditation.
This isn’t to say they aren’t doing some good things - see the link above and some of the stuff sounds awesome. But internal schemes are never quite as trustworthy as third-party accreditations. Interestingly they did have one fair trade coffee line in the UK, not sure if they plan to expand this product line.
Yeah I haven’t been to NZ yet.
I just assumed when Giles referenced local products, maybe it’s from the pacific then? or i know there was one trial of cocoa plants in the Northern Territory.
Apr 19th, 2007
Giles
The local reference was to the cocoa coming from Malaysia, the cane suger from Australia and the milk from New Zealand. I was definetly refering to our local region rather than just New Zeaand as the source of all ingredients- Its just too cold here for Cocoa!
Apr 30th, 2007
Beverley Demopoulos
Thanks heaps for your info, could you tell me what the Nestle brand of Fair Trade coffee was in the UK. Maybe we could ask for it in our stores in Australia. I am passionate about slave free products, the more the better.
Oct 29th, 2007
devonwhittle
Hey Beverley,
The Nestle fairtrade coffee is called Partner’s Blend, the BBC didn’t a report on it here. It would be great to get it over here in Australia - we do have Scarborough Fair tea and coffee - but not all Coles stock both products. I’m not sure how Coles work but I think pressure needs to be applied higher up in the chain of command than the local store to get them to add a new product line - though you could ask your local store owner/manager to put pressure on his superiors.
Oct 29th, 2007
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