1- Script and Recording

UK FAIR TRADE STORE

Those villagers producing cocoa for the world's lovers of chocolate are better off than most in Ghana's southern cocoa forests. They're in a fair trade cooperative. They can plan their lives, are paid a guaranteed price for their beans, and are protected from the fluctuating prices on the world commodity market.

Previously the growers were often cheated. Unscrupulous middlemen under-weighed their sacks and underpaid the farmers. The scales were often fixed to show a lower reading than the actual weight. Beans were sold through a long supply chain to the international chocolate industry. So decisions were imposed on them from above, not taken collectively at village level.

And that is why after years of being slave to the unpredictable world cocoa market, Esther Amoah has opted for fair trade. Esther is one of 40,000 producers who form a fair trade co-operative. Each earns under $200 a year but the price they get is always higher than the going rate on the world market. She has no electricity, no toilets, and there are no medical facilities for miles, but compared with the overwhelming majority of Ghana's two million cocoa farmers who are not in fair trade villages or co-operatives, Esther feels well off. There is clean running water that is safe to drink from a water pump paid for by the cash bonus from people in Europe who buy fair trade chocolate.

Sales of fair trade chocolate in the UK are now set to double to £6m, but this is still a fraction of the overall £4bn chocolate market. The signing of a contract by British supermarket chain, Co-op, will double the amount of Fair Trade Chocolate on sale in the UK, announced Terry Hudghton, a representative of the British high street supermarket chain: "The Co-operative Group in the UK, with our 2,400 stores, is converting all its own brand blocks of chocolate to fair trade. It's a historic step and we're the first retailer in the world to do this."

Co-op is appealing to the rest of the international chocolate industry -Nestle, Cadbury's, Masterfoods, and Kraft Suchard- to follow suit. Bob Eagle, of the Biscuit, Cake, Chocolate and Confectionary Alliance acknowledged that cocoa farmers had not always been given the fairest of deals. But after enduring some bad publicity in recent years, he was keen to stress that the industry isn't joining the fair trade camp but setting up social projects in West Africa and ensuring cocoa farmers had the means to diversify so they were less dependent on cocoa.

The irony is that most farmers who have spent their lives producing cocoa, have never even tasted chocolate. Even if they could get to cities selling chocolate, they wouldn't be able to afford it.

2- Summary

• Most students could not spell out "cocoa beans", "guarantee" and transformed "adapted from" into "adopted" or "tasted" into "tested" which changes the meaning, of course.
• Misspelling "sales", "consumers", "producers", "commodity", "retailer", "West" Africa, "example", was unforgivable at this LEA level.
• the date : just write " this BBC News November, 2002 article focusses on… stresses… addresses the issue of fair trade". Or, "the interest of this BBC News article dated November, 2002 lies in the fact that".
• Fair trade: no article.
• prices fluctuate ON the world market.
• Whenever you do not understand people's names (Esther Amoah or Bob Eagle), do NOT write names which may sound approximately the same but are definitely wrong. Play safe and smart, just state if it is a male or a female and his/her job (a farmer, a representative from major brands).
• Try to get figures right, with their proper commas and do not mix them, Esther Amoah could not possibly have earned £6 m (six millioN poundS).
• "to follow suit" was misunderstood. It just means to do the same. But the real difficulty lies with "to appeal to industry to follow suit", the notion of appeal implies that Co-op representatives urge major brands to follow in their footsteps (another metaphor) but that they will not necessarily do so.
• Last, students did not get the difference between Co-op, the supermarket chain (something like French Champion, Franprix, or whatever store you fancy) and fair trade cooperatives which are operated locally, that is back in Africa. You might also know Tesco, Britain's biggest supermarket chain.
• Now, here are the key points students were expected to mention. Proper spelling is essential, rather, and CAPITAL LETTERS are used here to remind you of their capital importance.

You were expected to start with the basics, where COCOA beans are produced (the cocoa-growing region of Ghana) and what fair trade cooperatives mean (ie a GUArantEEd price no matter what world market prices are). Then came a comparison between past practices and the advantages derived from fair trading.

Then came the example of a specific farmer, one among 40,000 growers=producers=farmers (use substitutes) who belong TO this cooperative. SHE IS SAID to benefit FROM better prices or higher earnings.

Then the article mentioned that the SALES of fair trade chocolatE in THE United Kingdom are about to double and reach £6m but that world market figures reach £4bn (4 billion pounds, do not waste time converting them into dollars or euros, just state what you heard). Then came the occasion for the article, the contract which Co-op, the British supermarket chain= high street supermarket giant= retailer, signed with Fair Trade cooperatives. They pledge to double the amount of fair trade chocolate which they SELL in the UK in their 2,400 stores or outlets. They will give up brand chocolate and switch to fair trade chocolate. This is a major step.

This leads to agribusiness and the chocolate industry, the brand names are all mentioned. They are appealed to by Co-op which means that Co-op urges them to follow its own example but it may well be to no avail. The Alliance does not join forces with fair traders but sets up its own social programs to help farmers diversify their productions. They are intent on revamping their degraded public image.

The article ends up by mentioning a paradox, local producers can neither TASTE nor buy the chocolate which they help produce.

3- Opinion Question

1. Class contents:

   Unfortunately, most papers did not have the faintest idea what the topic meant. They waffled on but did not mention course contents. You are expected to use what you learnt in classes. That is why you are encouraged to attend classes in the first place.

   Such brand names had been mentioned in classes and were expected, Anita Roddick's The Body Shop, The UK-based ethical cosmetics chain, Max Havelaar (Malongo coffee), Starbucks Coffee, the Footsie 4 Good Index, Co-op Bank, etc.

   All their activities, motivations were elaborated upon inclasses and some oth them at least had to be mentioned.

2. Internet resources:

   A small second-term brochure is available to students who attend classes. It includes articles such as these:

   • How Ethical .. How Profitable
   • Starbucks offers Ethical Coffee
   • Shoppers put prices before ethics
   • Ethical Index Snubs Tesco

Students are highly recommended to go to the BBC news website and check latest articles and developments on this issue. They will have a more comprehensive view of the topics and will greatly benefit from reading extra material for exams.

Most articles mention how most fair trade companies commit money to support conservation project in coffee-growing areas, how they provide support to vocational training schools to educate children locally, provide school supplies, help farmers build coffee (or whatever primary resource) processing facilities to improve their conditions by milling their own beans, construct health and dental clinics in areas with no medical assistance. The notions of long-term commitment, sustainable growth, ethical investment were covered in class. Articles also include negative views on fair trading.

Nine Good Reasons to run a business in an ethical manner was also mentioned in class

1. Litigation/Indictment Avoidance
   

   Without strong ethical values companies easily drift to the legal edges--dangerous territory where bending and breaking the law leads to lawsuits and indictments.

2. Regulatory Freedom
   

   When citizens and governments are aggravated by irresponsible, unethical business behavior, greater regulation and bureaucratic red tape is the result.

3. Public Acceptance
   

   Companies that tolerate unethical practices in today's transparent era, will almost certainly be exposed, then boycotted and punished in the marketplace.

4. Investor Confidence
   

   Today's investors will avoid a company that is not responsible and ethical. Recent market declines have partly resulted from concerns about unethical accounting practices.

5. Supplier/Partner Trust
   

   In an era of virtual corporations, partnerships, and extended enterprise, no company is self-sufficient. Successful partnerships are built on trust and trustworthiness.

6. Customer Loyalty
   

   Quality, cost, availability, and other factors are not enough to maintain customer loyalty. Customers are also looking at the reputation of the company.

7. Employee Performance
   

   People produce best in an open, creative, ethical environment. Companies that have a poor reputation have difficulty attracting and retaining top talent.

8. Personal Pride
   

   Company leaders and employees can take genuine pride in their accomplishments knowing they didn't bend rules, cut corners, or hurt people to accomplish their goals.

9. It's Right
   

   Most of the great moral teachers and leaders in human history argue that, no matter what the consequences, it is intrinsically good to do the right thing and be ethical.

   copyright. 2002 Institute for Business, Technology, and Ethics. All Rights Reserved

   

   created by: Geneviève Cohen-Cheminet