The Other Bar challenges consumers to take a bite out of poverty this Christmas by buying chocolate

“Be Radical, Choose Equality” is the message from the UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) and the Fairchain Foundation for the launch of The Other Bar, a chocolate bar that challenges consumers to choose a fairer option when stocking up on sweet treats this festive season.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B37Ti9zpKEY/

The Other Bar concept was conceived by the FairChain Foundation, to take direct action against poverty and prove to consumers and corporations that there is another way of doing business with developing-world farmers and producers, who typically get a raw deal for their raw materials.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3ucTdVFfTb/

Social creative agency Make Honey brought the idea to life, creating the messaging, positioning for the packaging, website, social platforms and online content.

The campaign is backed by Make Honey’s #RadicalEquality messaging through channels including @tob.equal, PR, Facebook ads, and influencers such as TV personality Leya Kazim of The Cutlery Chronicles.

Kazim is the first of a family of FairChain Warriors, whose Instagram Stories about The Other Bar and #RadicalEquality are curated and shared.

The campaign is an experiment not just to sell 20,000 bars online, but to change people’s perceptions of how business can be done between western corporations and developing-world producers. The project starts with chocolate’s raw ingredient, but can easily be applied to any commodity from coffee to cotton, oats to orange juice and soybeans to sugar.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B4VCba6DcjB/

Produced from the finest organic Ecuadorian cocoa, inside every pack of The Other Bar is a QR-code token that has real value – when scanned it’s equivalent to a quarter of a cocoa-producing tree. So for every four bars bought, a farmer can grow more, earn more and feed his family thanks to a fairer system.

There’s a twist, chocolate lovers don’t have to spend the token on a tree, they could use it to get 25p off their next purchase. It’s their choice. If more chocolate is purchased, the farmer benefits, if the token is donated, the farmer benefits – that’s Radical Equality in action.

The response to the campaign, which went live this week, has seen more than 10,000 people approach theother.bar to pre-order one of 20,000 limited edition packs.

Mark Terry-Lush, CEO of Make Honey, said: “Chocolate is a billion-dollar industry but farmers only get 3% of the value of the cocoa used to make the chocolate sold in most shops. If we can change that by bringing awareness to how easy it is to create the same product in a fairer way, then we can make a huge impact on producers’ lives. Simply by buying The Other Bar, chocolate lovers can be part of a Radical Equality movement for positive change.”

Guido van Staveren, founder of the FairChain Foundation, who conceived the idea and developed the technology behind The Other Bar tokens, concludes: “Most consumers understand that there is a problem with the way business is conducted between multinationals and producers. The little guy gets poor, while the big guy gets rich. The Other Bar proves that a combination of technology and consumer choice can tackle poverty.”

Available in milk or dark chocolate, The Other Bar is made from pure, organic Ecuadorian cocoa – the best in the world. Each pack contains two 50g bars. A limited edition 20,000 first run of The Other Bar, priced at £2.99, is now on sale at www.theother.bar.

Follow the campaign on Instagram @tob.equal or sign up for more information at www.theother.bar.