Mars has agreed to source all the cocoa for the British and Irish version of its eponymous chocolate bars from Fairtrade in a new type of partnership for the development organisation.
Until now, the Fairtrade mark could only be used on chocolate bars which source all possible ingredients, such as sugar, vanilla and cocoa, from farms certified under the ethical programme.
Mars bars will only use cocoa sourced from Fairtrade farmers and so the bars will be branded with a new kind of Fairtrade label that differentiate them from fully certified alternatives such as Maltesers, Divine Chocolate or Green & Black’s.
Fairtrade said it hoped Mars would be the first of many brands to sign up to the new Cocoa Sourcing programme which is intended to develop a wider market for its cocoa farmers.
The consumer goods company, which also owns Uncle Ben’s rice and Whiskas cat food, said that it expected to pay $2m (£1.3m) a year in Fairtrade premiums to farmers by next year. Its Maltesers chocolates became fully Fairtrade certified in 2012.
Blas Maquivar, president of Mars Chocolate UK, said: “This partnership brings us one step closer to sustainable, ethically sourced cocoa becoming the norm in the chocolate industry.”