Ben & Jerry’s introduce Fairtrade ice-cream
Ben & Jerry’s is to introduce what it claims is Ireland’s first Fairtrade ice-cream with the launch of its Classic Vanilla flavour.
The move is the beginning of what the Vermont-based ice-cream makers stress is “a long-term commitment by to introduce Fairtrade ingredients across the full range”.
“Fairtrade is about making sure people get their fair share of the pie,” said Ben & Jerry’s co-founder Jerry Greenfield.
“The whole concept of fair trade goes to the heart of our values and the sense of right and wrong. Nobody wants to buy something that was made by exploiting somebody else.”
Fairtrade is growing by 30% a year internationally, is now worth more than €6.5m in Ireland and includes a growing range of retail and catering products.
“We’re delighted that people can now get their first taste of an ice-cream made with Fairtrade sugar and vanilla,” said Peter Gaynor of Fairtrade Mark Ireland.
“The small farmers in India that grow the Fairtrade certified vanilla now receive nearly double their income. With the extra money they want to improve the local schools by providing meals for the children and recruiting teachers, especially IT and English teachers, which poor government wages can’t attract.”
