Ben & Jerry's, the ice cream brand known for its humanitarian activism is partnering with Fairtrade to help cocoa farmers in West Africa earn a higher price for their beans.
"We're committed to working for economic justice through our ice cream, and now we're making history by ramping up our commitment with the cocoa we buy," said Cheryl Pinto, Ben & Jerry's Global Values-Led Sourcing Manager, in a statement. "Starting with the cocoa in our chocolate ice cream mix, we're working towards the Fairtrade Living Income Reference Price for cocoa farmers, and this is the beginning. We are exploring living incomes in our other global supply chains, too."
Fairtrade's Living Income Reference Price indicates the price needed for an average farmer household with a viable farm size and an adequate productivity level to make a living income from the sales of their crop. Fairtrade has set this reference price at $2.2 per kilo of cocoa at farm gate price (the amount a farmer sells their cocoa for).
From October 2020 going forward, around 5,000 Fairtrade cocoa farmers in Ben & Jerry's supply chain will receive approximately an additional $600,000 over the next year. This amount is on top of the annual Fairtrade Premium of around $970,000 and the Ivorian government's minimum price for cocoa that all companies are required to pay. The extra money that farmers will now receive is an important part of Ben & Jerry's wider efforts to support farmers towards closing the living income gap.
