Harry Potter Chocolate Certified Fair-Trade
February 6, 2015
Big news from the wizarding world. Just before Christmas, Harry Potter studio Warner Bros. pledged that chocolates associated with Harry Potter will have to be certified fair-trade or be approved by UTZ by the end of 2015, if not sooner. This includes chocolate products sold at Warner Bros. outlets, and through its licensed partners.
Behind the scenes of this breakthrough is The Harry Potter Alliance, a social-justice group that has wanted to ensure the chocolate’s fair-trade certification for four years now. But that’s not all, even Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling took up the petition against Warner Bros. for the cause. And in 2014, the Harry Potter Alliance, along with anti-slavery group Walk Free, and J.K. Rowling presented 400,000 signatures backing their campaign to Warner Bros. executives.
Specifically, the chocolates that are sold in the theme park associated with Harry Potter are the chocolate frog, Shock-O-Choc, and HoneyDukes chocolate bars. Certification comes with peace of mind that the chocolate’s production does not rely on child labor, and that its producers are paid decent wages.
Founder of the Harry Potter Alliance, Andrew Slack, developed the idea from speaking with an advocate for fair labor in the realm of cocoa production. He said about the campaign, “making sure Potter-branded chocolate is fair-trade makes sense, because Harry Potter has the message of equality and justice.”
The Harry Potter Alliance, inspired by J.K. Rowling’s novels and her experiences with poverty, seeks to turn fans into advocates of real-world issues like this, and other corporate practices. Their mission is to create a more just world by fighting for human rights, equality and literacy. Aside from their campaign for fair-trade chocolate, they have compared the Walmart Corporation to Voldemort, and run large book drives to benefit underprivileged youth.
Ricky Brigante, theme park expert told FoxNews.com “when the very audience a company depends on speaks out for or against something, it's important for that company to listen, or they risk losing important followers.”
Photo "Chocolate Frogs" by HarshLight is licensed under CC BY 2.0 / cropped from original
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