Hello everyone,
On Tuesday afternoon I was so happy to see us pass the 20,000 mark on this petition. So I can barely believe as I write this more than 240,000 of you are calling on Nestlé to keep Fairtrade!
Thanks so much to every single one of you for standing with the cocoa and sugar farmers really worried by Nestlé’s awful KitKat decision.
Nestlé haven’t acknowledged this petition yet, or responded properly to farmers’ questions. But as we get near a quarter of a million people asking them to think again, they are going to have to start taking us seriously. So please keep sharing far and wide.
You might have seen what Nestlé have said so far in the press and online: that cocoa in KitKats will still be certified by the Rainforest Alliance and they’ll make other short term investments, so we don’t need to worry. But for me, that misses the point.
Nestlé are still failing to answer the big questions farmers in the Ivorian Fair Trade Network raised last week.
These aren’t just questions about how and how much they’ll be paid – though that’s all still very unclear and a really big concern in these unstable times. Especially as Nestlé’s promises to assist farmers are all about limited short-term investments, without the long-term security and transparency of Fairtrade.
But I’m also still really concerned about farmers losing powers and rights they have with Fairtrade on how to spend the money they earn through the Premium.
Right now farmers are using some of their Fairtrade Premium payments to protect their communities and businesses from the devastating effects of Coronavirus, as well as investing in their communities, and the long term sustainability of their farms and cooperatives. They can do this because they get 100% of the Fairtrade Premium - currently $240 per tonne and farmers decide themselves how best to spend it. Nestlé have agreed to pay a premium of $180 per tonne but haven’t fully explained how and to whom it will be distributed. They have a programme of investment which requires farmers to apply and explain how they intend to use the funds, meaning they can't be dynamic and use it for sudden emergencies like coronavirus.
And don't forget that 50% of Fairtrade is owned by the farmers themselves. Moving to a different scheme takes away that autonomy.
If you’d like to know a bit more about what farmers are worried about losing, I’d check out this Ethical Trading Initiative blog, an FAQ on the Fairtrade website and of course the letter from the farmers of the Ivorian Fair Trade Network. I also wrote a piece in the ‘i’ newspaper recently on how, as the Black Lives Matter movement pushes forward around the world, this is such a big step backwards.
We need to keep pushing Nestlé to start listening, and answer farmers’ questions. This petition is in my name but I set it up because I know how much this means to cocoa farmers – thank you so much in backing them in asking Nestlé to think again.
Best wishes and many thanks for your support,
Joanna