Green & Black's
Encyclopedia
Green & Black's is a UK
-based chocolate
company, owned by Kraft Foods
. The company produces a range of chocolate bars, ice cream
, biscuits
and hot chocolate
with its principal manufacturing sites in Poland and Italy. Its products are organic
and premium-priced.
Green & Black's was founded in 1991 by Craig Sams
and his wife, Josephine Fairley, the magazine editor and widely-published journalist. The name was derived not from any founders' surnames, but 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 1994 Worldaware Business Award for good business practice, as well as the UK's first Fairtrade mark. The company has a small office in Punta Gorda, Belize.
Green & Black's Australia chocolate has announced that it will convert 90% of its range to Fairtrade by the end of 2010, and its entire range by 2011.
(now 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.
On January 19, 2010, Cadbury Schweppes
was bought by Kraft Foods
. Cadbury was valued at £11.5 billion ($19.5 billion US).
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
-based chocolate
Chocolate
Chocolate is a raw or processed food produced from the seed of the tropical Theobroma cacao tree. Cacao has been cultivated for at least three millennia in Mexico, Central and South America. Its earliest documented use is around 1100 BC...
company, owned by Kraft Foods
Kraft Foods
Kraft Foods Inc. is an American confectionery, food and beverage conglomerate. It markets many brands in more than 170 countries. 12 of its brands annually earn more than $1 billion worldwide: Cadbury, Jacobs, Kraft, LU, Maxwell House, Milka, Nabisco, Oscar Mayer, Philadelphia, Trident, Tang...
. The company produces a range of chocolate bars, ice cream
Ice cream
Ice cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners...
, biscuits
Cookie
In the United States and Canada, a cookie is a small, flat, baked treat, usually containing fat, flour, eggs and sugar. In most English-speaking countries outside North America, the most common word for this is biscuit; in many regions both terms are used, while in others the two words have...
and hot chocolate
Hot chocolate
Hot chocolate is a heated beverage typically consisting of shaved chocolate, melted chocolate or cocoa powder, heated milk or water, and sugar...
with its principal manufacturing sites in Poland and Italy. Its products are organic
Organic food
Organic foods are foods that are produced using methods that do not involve modern synthetic inputs such as synthetic pesticides and chemical fertilizers, do not contain genetically modified organisms, and are not processed using irradiation, industrial solvents, or chemical food additives.For the...
and premium-priced.
Green & Black's was founded in 1991 by Craig Sams
Craig Sams
-Early life and education:Craig Sams was born in Nebraska. He graduated from Wharton Business School in 1966.-Career:In October 1966, Sams went to England with plans to open a macrobiotic restaurant. He opened Seed, a macrobiotic restaurant in Paddington with his brother Greg Sams in 1968. The Sams...
and his wife, Josephine Fairley, the magazine editor and widely-published journalist. The name was derived not from any founders' surnames, but 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
Fairtrade labelling
Fairtrade certification is a product certification system designed to allow people to identify products that meet agreed environmental, labour and developmental standards. Overseen by a standard-setting body, Fairtrade International , and a certification body, FLO-CERT, the system involves...
cocoa from Maya
Maya peoples
The Maya people constitute a diverse range of the Native American people of southern Mexico and northern Central America. The overarching term "Maya" is a collective designation to include the peoples of the region who share some degree of cultural and linguistic heritage; however, the term...
farmers in Belize
Belize
Belize is a constitutional monarchy and the northernmost country in Central America. Belize has a diverse society, comprising many cultures and languages. Even though Kriol and Spanish are spoken among the population, Belize is the only country in Central America where English is the official...
for the Maya Gold chocolate bar, and was awarded the 1994 Worldaware Business Award for good business practice, as well as the UK's first Fairtrade mark. The company has a small office in Punta Gorda, Belize.
Green & Black's Australia chocolate has announced that it will convert 90% of its range to Fairtrade by the end of 2010, and its entire range by 2011.
Ownership
In May 2005, Cadbury SchweppesCadbury Schweppes
Cadbury is a confectionery company owned by Kraft Foods and is the industry's second-largest globally after Mars, Incorporated. Headquartered in Uxbridge, London, United Kingdom, the company operates in more than 50 countries worldwide....
(now 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.
On January 19, 2010, Cadbury Schweppes
Cadbury Schweppes
Cadbury is a confectionery company owned by Kraft Foods and is the industry's second-largest globally after Mars, Incorporated. Headquartered in Uxbridge, London, United Kingdom, the company operates in more than 50 countries worldwide....
was bought by Kraft Foods
Kraft Foods
Kraft Foods Inc. is an American confectionery, food and beverage conglomerate. It markets many brands in more than 170 countries. 12 of its brands annually earn more than $1 billion worldwide: Cadbury, Jacobs, Kraft, LU, Maxwell House, Milka, Nabisco, Oscar Mayer, Philadelphia, Trident, Tang...
. Cadbury was valued at £11.5 billion ($19.5 billion US).
External links
- Green & Black's
- 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)
- http://www.craigsams.com
- Green & Black's Australia going Fair Trade.
- Kraft takes over Cadburys.