About Nestlé

Have a break, Have a Fairtrade Kit Kat

Nestlé strengthens its commitment to sustainable cocoa sourcing.

From January 2010, Kit Kat, Nestlé’s leading confectionery brand and the UK’s favourite chocolate biscuit bar, will be certified by Fairtrade in the UK and Ireland.

This announcement follows on from the October launch of Nestlé’s global Cocoa Plan which represents a £65 million investment over the next ten years in programmes to address the economic, social and environmental issues facing cocoa farming communities.

Fairtrade certification of Kit Kat will facilitate long term direct commitments to cocoa co–operatives including additional payments for the farmers to invest in community or business development projects of their own choice, such as improving healthcare and schools.

The first Kit Kats to carry the FAIRTRADE Mark in the UK and Ireland will be the four–finger version from January 2010. 

The Cocoa Plan

The Cocoa Plan brings together Nestlé’s activity to promote sustainable cocoa supply under one banner. The Cocoa Plan aims to help address the key issues facing the cocoa farming communities that Nestlé works with, from an economic, social and environmental perspective. Over the next ten years Nestlé will invest over £65 million in the Plan. This builds on the £35 million invested in cocoa sustainability initiatives over the last 15 years.

The Cocoa Plan is not a quick fix for the challenging cocoa situation in the Ivory Coast where yields on farms have been falling while worldwide demand has doubled in the last twenty years. It is, however, an important and significant part of broad, collaborative efforts to improve the cocoa supply chain and the lives of cocoa farmers and communities. Nestlé is working with farmers and with partner organisations to build programmes that offer long–term solutions. This requires a step–by–step approach, in which the company is responsive to the needs of farmers and their communities.

Activity falls under the following areas:

• Plant expertise – improving the quantity and quality of yields by providing 12 million stronger, more productive plantlets over the next 10 years
• Farmer training and assistance – teaching more efficient, sustainable farming methods, such as the effective pruning of trees, fermentation and drying of beans
• Improving the supply chain – a commitment from Nestlé to buy beans from farms which use sustainable practices and helping cooperatives by speeding up the process from farm to export
• Better social conditions – Nestlé is working with partner organisations such as the International Cocoa Initiative and the World Cocoa Foundation to tackle issues such as child labour and poor access to healthcare and education
• Consumer communication – The Cocoa Plan logo and a dedicated website will invite consumers to learn more about the cocoa supply chain and Nestlé’s work with farming communities

For more information on the Cocoa Plan, please visit www.thecocoaplan.com

Kit Kat facts

  Here are some facts about Kit Kat:

• The Kit Kat range, which is produced in York, makes up approximately 23% of Nestlé Confectionery UK sales. Almost a quarter of the Kit Kat sales are of four–finger Kit Kat.
• The UK is the biggest market for Kit Kat globally. It is about twice as big as the second Kit Kat market, Japan.
• Kit Kat continues to be one of the world’s best selling confectionery brands.
• Some 47 bars are eaten every second and in 1999 sales amounted to £250 million, breaking the £1/4bn barrier for the first time.

Did you know…?

• Kit Kat was launched in 1935 and was originally called Chocolate Crisp
• Kit Kat was once blue! It sported a blue wrapper in 1945 when plain chocolate was used due to shortages of milk after the war. The blue Kit Kat was withdrawn in 1947 when the standard milk chocolate Kit Kat was reintroduced.
• Every five minutes enough Kit Kat is manufactured to outstack the Eiffel Tower, while one year’s production would stretch around the London Underground more than 350 times.

Fairtrade facts

  Here are some facts about Fairtrade:

• Pick & choose: The first three Fairtrade products appeared on shop shelves in 1994, now more than 4,500 products have been licensed to carry the FAIRTRADE Mark.
• Flying off the shelves: We spent nearly three quarters of a billion pounds (£700m) on products carrying the FAIRTRADE Mark in the UK in 2008 – a staggering 42% increase on 2007 sales (£493m).
• A fairer future: An estimated 5 million people in Africa, Asia and Latin America benefit from Fairtrade – farmers, farm workers, and their families.
• Fairtrade fans: 69% of the UK public now recognise the FAIRTRADE Mark (TNS April 2009). 
• Changing lives: The Fairtrade premium, an additional sum for community development, is used by farmers’ groups to build schools and medical clinics, provide clean drinking water and pilot organic conversion schemes to help farmers work for the future.
• Keeping it local: There are now more than 450 Fairtrade Towns – towns where a commitment to Fairtrade has been made by the council, shops and businesses – together with 100 Fairtrade universities, over 5,000 Fairtrade Places of Worship and over 3,000.

For more information on Fairtrade, please visit www.fairtrade.org.uk

Key questions answered

Why did you choose Fairtrade and not another form of certification?
 
UK consumers are increasingly interested in the origins and sustainability of products and we are committed to improving conditions for Ivory Coast farmers to ensure a sustainable high quality supply of cocoa for our products.  
 
We are proud to be working with Fairtrade, an organization that is well known and respected by UK consumers, and that shares our long term commitment to improving conditions for Ivory Coast farmers but importantly also understands the realities and challenges we face.
 
We believe Nestlé’s plant expertise and support for farmer training combined with the increased income for farmers that Fairtrade brings will make a tangible difference to the farming communities that we work with and will help to empower Ivorian cocoa producers to improve their lives.

Why did you choose to certify Kit Kat?
 
Kit Kat is our leading confectionery brand and the UK sells more Kit Kats than any other market in the world – the UK is almost twice as big as the second Kit Kat market which is Japan.
 
Certifying our most iconic brand is a demonstration of our commitment to bringing The Cocoa Plan to life and to improving the lives of cocoa farming communities.

Will Kit Kat still taste the same?

Absolutely! There will be no difference in taste between Fairtrade Kit Kat and the old variety.

Will Fairtrade Kit Kat be more expensive?

Although farmers will benefit from the Fairtrade premium, there will be no price increase for consumers due to Kit Kat going Fairtrade.

Links:

Nestlé Flickr stream –
http://www.flickr.com/photos/nestleuk/

You Tube video –  Fairtrade Kit Kat 

How Kit Kat went Fairtrade

Cocoa Plan website – http://www.thecocoaplan.com/

Kit Kat brand pages – http://www.kitkat.co.uk/

Fairtrade website – www.fairtrade.org.uk/