Divine Chocolate Limited is a British purveyor of

Fairtrade A fair trade certification is a product certification within the market-based movement fair trade. The most widely used fair trade certification is FLO International's, the International Fairtrade Certification Mark, used in Europe, Africa, As ...

chocolate. It was originally established in the UK in 1998 as a company limited by shares co-owned by the

Kuapa Kokoo Kuapa Kokoo is a Fairtrade-certified cocoa farmers organisation in Ghana. The organisation was established in 1993 by a group of cocoa farmers from Ghana with support from Twin Trading, Christian Aid and The Body Shop. They are based in Ghana an ...

cocoa farmers' co-operative in Ghana,

Twin Trading Twin Trading was an alternative trading company in the United Kingdom. It was founded in 1985 and was based in London. Twin Trading was wholly owned by Twin, a registered charity and membership organisation. It was co-founded by economist Michael ...

and

The Body Shop The Body Shop International Limited, trading as The Body Shop, is a British cosmetics, skin care and perfume company. Founded in 1976 by Anita Roddick, the company currently has a range of 1,000 products sold in about 3,000 stores, divided b ...

, with support from

Christian Aid Christian Aid is the relief and development agency of 41 Christian (Protestant, Catholic and Orthodox) churches in the UK and Ireland, and works to support sustainable development, eradicate poverty, support civil society and provide disaster ...

and

Comic Relief Comic relief is the inclusion of a humorous character, scene, or witty dialogue in an otherwise serious work, often to relieve tension. Definition Comic relief usually means a releasing of emotional or other tension resulting from a comic episo ...

. The Body Shop subsequently handed their shares over to Kuapa Kokoo which increased Kuapa's share of Divine Chocolate Ltd from 33% to 45%

Trade practices

Divine Chocolate claims that its trading system is unique in that farmers own the biggest stake in the company and share its profit. Divine delivers four streams of income to Kuapa Kokoo 1) the Fairtrade minimum price for its cocoa, or world price if that is higher 2) the Fairtrade premium of $200 for every tonne of cocoa 3) 2% of annual turnover for Producer Support & Development 4) 44% of distributed profit.

Ownership

Following The Body Shop handing all their shares in the company over to Kuapa Kokoo in 2007, Divine Chocolate Ltd was then owned by the following organizations: * 45% owned by

, a Fairtrade cocoa farmers cooperative in Ghana. * 43% shares owned by

, an

alternative trading organization An alternative trading organization (ATO) is usually a non-governmental organization (NGO) or mission-driven business aligned with the Fair trade movement, aiming "to contribute to the alleviation of poverty in developing regions of the world by e ...

based in London. * 12% owned by

Oikocredit Oikocredit (in full Oikocredit, Ecumenical Development Cooperative Society U.A.) is a cooperative society that offers loans or investment capital for microfinance institutions, cooperatives and small and medium-sized enterprises in developing coun ...

, a Dutch

microfinance Microfinance is a category of financial services targeting individuals and small businesses who lack access to conventional banking and related services. Microfinance includes microcredit, the provision of small loans to poor clients; savings ...

institution. In 2015 UK and US businesses merged, giving Kuapa Kokoo a 44% share of the new company - still the biggest share. Divine Chocolate Ltd (UK) has acquired the 69% of Divine Chocolate Inc (USA) that was in other ownership, through a mutually agreed share swap, resulting in Divine Chocolate Ltd owning 100% of Divine Chocolate Inc., whilst bringing in some minority shareholdings to Divine UK.

Awards

Divine Chocolate was a runner-up in the 2002 Worldaware Award for small businesses. The nomination recognized Divine Chocolate for "its courageous and creative marketing stance in favour of fair trade in the highly competitive chocolate confectionery market". Divine Chocolate was voted

Observer An observer is one who engages in observation or in watching an experiment. Observer may also refer to: Computer science and information theory * In information theory, any system which receives information from an object * State observer in co ...

Best Ethical Business in 2008, and Best Social Enterprise in 2007. Divine was also voted Favourite Fairtrade Product by

Good Housekeeping ''Good Housekeeping'' is an American women's magazine featuring articles about women's interests, product testing by The Good Housekeeping Institute, recipes, diet, and health, as well as literary articles. It is well known for the "Good House ...

in 2008. Two Divine products have received 2013 Great Taste Awards (

Guild of Fine Food The Guild of Fine Food (GFF) is a British family-owned industry journal publisher that covers gourmet food news. It was founded by Bob Farrand in 1992. All five directors are members of the Farrand family. Bob Farrand is the chairman, his son ...

). Most recently Divine was named Favourite Fairtrade Product in UK, awarded Social Enterprise of the Year 2014, and won the 2015

Guardian Guardian usually refers to: * Legal guardian, a person with the authority and duty to care for the interests of another * ''The Guardian'', a British daily newspaper (The) Guardian(s) may also refer to: Places * Guardian, West Virginia, Unite ...

Sustainable Business Award for Social Impact Innovation.

References

External links

Divine Chocolate UK
{{fair trade British chocolate companies Alternative trading organizations Food and drink companies established in 1998 Ghanaian chocolate companies