Transforming the chocolate industry with Ruth Harding

I left the Associate Programme in October 2018 and joined Divine Chocolate, a Fairtrade chocolate company renowned for selling delicious, premium chocolate. What makes Divine unique is that it was set-up and is co-owned by the cocoa farmers who grow the cocoa beans, Kuapa Kokoo Farmers’ Union. Did you know that cocoa farmers typically earn less than $1 a day whilst the global chocolate sector is valued at billions! We seek to deliver additional income to the farmers and improve livelihoods through farmer-led programmes, such as Adult Literacy and Labour Rights.

I spent two years as Operations Director where I gained a real understanding of the chocolate supply chain. I worked closely with third party certification bodies such as Fairtrade, Vegan Society and B-Corp and manufactured an array of product such as Easter Eggs and Chocolate Advent Calendars.

I then took on the role of Managing Director and quickly had to get to grips with running a business and adapt to an ever-changing landscape driven by events such as Covid, the Russian Invasion of Ukraine and now the cocoa crisis, whereby the price of cocoa has skyrocketed and, at one point, was valued higher than copper.

One favourite aspect of my role is getting inside the mind of the consumer. We provide an ethical option, be it Fairtrade, vegan, palm and soy free but we have to do so whilst competing in an extremely competitive and cost sensitive marketplace. We cannot compete on price and so we have to find ways to communicate the farmers’ story in ways that result in consumers buying our products and coming back for more! Hopefully we get this tone right when we launch our first TV ad campaign in September as part of the Channel 4 Proudly Supports B Corps campaign.

And of course, feel free to get in touch to discuss more!