Check out this great campaign by Oxfam highlighting some of the big brands and how they perform with regard to their supply chain, their impact on the global food system, and in particular how this flows onto the poor and marginalised at the bottom of their supply chains.
Oxfam’s Behind the Brands campaign aims to provide people who buy and enjoy these products with the information they need to hold the Big 10 to account for what happens in their supply chains.
Oxfam has done some great research and has developed this interesting Company Scorecard to see how your favourite brand stacks up. It’s a bit of a worry that the best brand is only at 54% and even more worrying that major brands like Kellogs, which I know we personally buy frequently, are performing so poorly!
It’s particularly interesting at this point in time, Easter, when we in the west consume ridiclous amounts of chocolate – $185.7mill* on chocolate this Easter in Australia in fact. The Cocoa trade is somewhat notorious for exploitation over the years, and Oxfam has highlighted the expoitation of women in particular:
Mars, Mondelez, and Nestlé buy more than 30% of the cocoa grown worldwide. But throughout their supply chains women are getting a raw deal.
So as you enjoy that delicious chocolate this Easter, I’d encourage you to head to the Behind the Brands website – learn more and sign the petition to “make noise, make change” as Oxfam puts it, and get the big brands to “Look, Listen & Act”.
(* IBISWorld Study)
LIFE LESS GREEDY 