Throwing the Chocolate Bar Out with the Bathwater

The briefing critiques Mondelez's decision to move Cadbury away from Fairtrade International toward a corporate-owned sustainability standard. It contends that this shift increases transaction costs for producers, risks a 'race to the bottom' in industry standards, and replaces inclusive multistakeholder governance with an internally managed system, ultimately threatening the credibility of sustainable cocoa markets.

• Cadbury's shift to an in-house standard is viewed as a regression for global cocoa sustainability because it reduces public oversight and creates market confusion.
• Producers face increased risks and costs under corporate-owned standards, including higher transaction costs for compliance and the danger of becoming dependent on a single buyer.
• The move may trigger a 'race to the bottom' where other companies abandon rigorous independent standards in favor of less demanding in-house or corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs.
• The transition replaces a participatory governance model—exemplified by Fairtrade International's board of producer, consumer, and company groups—with an internally dictated system.
• International voluntary sustainability standards are characterized as a 'public good' because they provide governance, market pooling, and credible information that in-house standards cannot replicate.
• While Cadbury correctly identified that certification alone cannot ensure full supply chain sustainability, moving to an in-house standard reduces the ability to generate the resources needed for that transition.

APA

Potts, J. (2017). Throwing the Chocolate Bar Out with the Bathwater. International Institute for Sustainable Development. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/cadbury-sustainability-standard-cocoa-industry-commentary.pdf

Chicago

Potts, Jason. Throwing the Chocolate Bar Out with the Bathwater. International Institute for Sustainable Development, 2017. https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/cadbury-sustainability-standard-cocoa-industry-commentary.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Potts |first1=Jason |title=Throwing the Chocolate Bar Out with the Bathwater |publisher=International Institute for Sustainable Development |date=January 2017 |url=https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/cadbury-sustainability-standard-cocoa-industry-commentary.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{potts2017throwing, author = {Potts, Jason}, title = {{Throwing the Chocolate Bar Out with the Bathwater}}, institution = {International Institute for Sustainable Development}, year = {2017}, month = jan, url = {https://www.iisd.org/system/files/publications/cadbury-sustainability-standard-cocoa-industry-commentary.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }