Green & Black's
 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1991 |
| Founders | Craig Sams and Josephine Fairley |
| Headquarters | London, England |
| Products | Chocolate, ice cream, biscuits, baking chocolate |
| Owner | Mondelēz International |
| Website | greenandblacks |
Green & Black's is a British chocolate company founded in 1991. The company produces a range of organic food[1] products, including: chocolate bars, ice cream, biscuits and hot chocolate.
Green & Black's was bought by Cadbury in 2005, and later became part of Mondelēz International (formerly known as Kraft Foods). It has principal manufacturing sites in Canada, Poland, and Italy.
History
[edit]Founding
[edit]Green & Black's was founded in 1991 by the couple Craig Sams and Josephine Fairley, organic food pioneer and journalist respectively. The name was derived from a wordplay — "Green" standing for the environmental concerns of the founders, and "Black" for the high cocoa solids chocolate they wished to provide. In 1994, the company began purchasing Fairtrade cocoa from Maya farmers in Belize for the Maya Gold chocolate bar, and was awarded the Worldaware Business Award in 1994 for good business practice,[2] as well as the UK's first Fairtrade mark.[3] The company has a small office in Punta Gorda, Belize.
Ownership changes and fairtrade
[edit]In May 2005, Cadbury Schweppes (latterly Cadbury plc) bought Green & Black's for an undisclosed sum, estimated to be around £20m. Cadbury pledged to run the company as a separate business.
Green & Black's Australia chocolate announced that it would convert 90% of its range to Fairtrade by the end of 2010, and its entire range by 2011.[4] In August 2017 the company launched its first product line, the Velvet Edition, which is neither Fair Trade nor Organic.[5]
Metal content
[edit]In a 2022 review conducted by independent testing company, Consumer Reports, Green & Black's Organic Dark Chocolate 70% Cacao bar was found to exceed California's maximum allowable dose level (MADL) for lead and cadmium. An ounce of the dark chocolate bar was found to include 143% of the minimal allowable dose of lead and 181% of the minimum allowable dose for cadmium.[6]
Operations
[edit]Green & Black's has operations around the world, including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and other nations.
United States
[edit]Green & Black's sells chocolate bars in the United States. They are sold in stores such as Whole Foods Market and Walgreens. They have various chocolate bars, in various flavors such as "Dark 85% Cacao" and "White".[7] All are Fairtrade Certified.
Recalls
[edit]On 15 October 2012 Mondelēz Global LLC conducted voluntary U.S. recall of Green & Black's organic peanut and sea salt milk chocolate bar due to possible health risk.[8]
Books
[edit]- Sweet Dreams – The Story of Green & Black’s Craig Sams and Josephine Fairley, ISBN 1905211457 (2008) Random House
See also
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^ "Green & Black's - Organic". Archived from the original on 28 January 2007. Retrieved 21 February 2007.
- ^ "Worldaware Business Awards 1994 - Booker Tate Award for Small Businesses". Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 16 February 2011.
- ^ "Green & Black's Our Story | Green and Black's". www.greenandblacks.co.uk. Retrieved 21 December 2023.
- ^ http://www.fta.org.au/news/293?sssdmh=dm16.409959 Archived 16 March 2010 at the Wayback Machine Fair trade Association Australia and New Zealand
- ^ Green & Black's new bar drops Fairtrade and organic labels. BBC NEWS. Published 3 August 2017. Retrieved 4 August 2017.
- ^ Loria, Kevin (25 October 2023). "Lead and Cadmium Could Be in Your Dark Chocolate". Consumer Reports.
- ^ "Our Products". Archived from the original on 7 October 2016. Retrieved 7 October 2016.
- ^ https://www.fda.gov/Safety/Recalls/ucm324043.htm FDA
Further reading
[edit]- BBC News: Kraft takes over Cadburys (2 February 2010)
- BBC News: Cadbury gobbles up organic rival (13 May 2005)
- The Guardian: interview with Craig Sams (16 May 2005)
- The Observer: How a £1.50 chocolate bar saved a Mayan community from destruction (28 May 2006)
External links
[edit]- Official website
- Green & Black's profile Archived 13 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine
- Green & Black's Australia going Fair Trade. The Fair Trade Association of Australia and New Zealand
- FDA FDA U.S. Food and Drug administration: Recalls (Last Updated: 15 October 2012)
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