News & Media

This action has now been closed. Thanks to all who emailed Brian and Andrew Whittaker urging them to switch to Fairtrade. A total of 358 emails were sent using our e-action form but we also asked supporters to email [email protected] directly so the number of emails sent was likely much higher.

We like to think that pressure from Oxfam supporters like you helped to convince Whittaker’s to switch their Creamy Milk bar to Fairtrade.

Some of the explanatory and promotional text and the text of the email that was sent is included here for archive purposes.

Dear fan of Oxfam New Zealand

You may have heard in the news that Cadbury New Zealand has announced plans to purchase Fairtrade cocoa from farmers in Ghana for all Dairy Milk chocolate bars by Easter next year. This is a major win for Fairtrade supporters and will make a real difference to the lives of cocoa farmers in Ghana. These farmers will receive a fair price for their produce, and sufficient income to support their families and communities.

The significance of this decision is really highlighted when you consider the fact that Cadbury’s switch to Fairtrade will triple the quantity of Fairtrade products available in New Zealand, and will mean that Fairtrade chocolate will be available in almost every supermarket and dairy across New Zealand. We’re certainly going to have a lot of work on our plates at Oxfam updating our Where to Buy Fairtrade list!

Consumer power

Cadbury’s decision demonstrates the difference consumers can make when they stand up for what they believe in. It is a real tribute to people like you who support the Fairtrade campaign and have been pushing for change with your consumer decisions and your voice.

Cadbury have at this stage only committed to sourcing Fairtrade ingredients for their Dairy Milk chocolate bars. Now is the perfect time to contact them and congratulate them on their decision, and encourage them to use only Fairtrade ingredients for all of their chocolate.

It is also the perfect time to put pressure on their major New Zealand competitor Whittakers, and encourage them to follow suit by switching to Fairtrade.

The more we ask for Fairtrade products, the more manufacturers, supermarkets and cafes will have to listen.

Write to Whittakers

Please email Whittakers encouraging them to follow suit. You may want to talk in this email about how you only purchase Fairtrade chocolate, and are telling your friends/family to do the same.

Email: [email protected] and address to Brian and Andrew Whittaker

We have included below example emails. You’re welcome to copy this text, but you’ll have more impact if you write your email in your own words and make it personal.

Please copy us into the email ([email protected]) so that we can track how many are sent, and please let us know what response you get.

Example email to Whittakers

Dear Brian and Andrew Whittaker,

I am a supporter of Fairtrade and was very pleased to hear Cadbury’s recent announcement that they’re switching to Fairtrade cocoa for all of their Dairy Milk chocolate bars. This is a significant development for cocoa farmers in Ghana who will receive a fair price for their produce and sufficient income to support their families and communities.

I would like to see Whittakers following Cadbury’s lead. I enjoy the taste of Whittakers chocolate and like the fact that it is produced in New Zealand, but I will not purchase Whittakers until you can guarantee that your ingredients are fairly traded.

In fact, I would like to see Whittakers go even further than Cadbury by committing to source all of the ingredients for all of your chocolate range from Fairtrade sources where available. This would make a real difference to the lives of producers in the developing world.

Yours sincerely,

Thank you for your support! ‘Feel the Heat’ was a campaign that Oxfam ran in the run up to the Copenhagen climate change meeting in December 2009. The petition is now closed, but we have retained the text of this page for archive purposes.

John Key must Feel the Heat

Climate change increases poverty and suffering for millions of the world’s poorest people as they face increasingly unpredictable weather, hunger, disease and displacement. This is a massive injustice because the poorest people are the least responsible for causing climate change and are the least able to cope.

In December 2009, world leaders met at the UN climate change conference in Copenhagen to develop a global climate change agreement. These crucial talks may be over, but we’re not done yet. We need to urge our government (and all governments) to make fair and strong decisions in order to ensure that the needs of the world’s poorest people are being met.

By signing the Feel the Heat petition you are calling on New Zealand together with other developed countries to:

• reduce emissions to at least 40% below 1990 levels by 2020.
• work within the United Nations to ensure that the needs of the world’s poorest people are at the heart of a new global climate change deal.
• cut our emissions first, fastest and furthest so that global emissions peak by 2015 and fall at least 80% below 1990 levels by 2050.
• provide the money and technology needed, independent of existing aid commitments, to help vulnerable people in poor countries adapt to changing climates.