The much boycotted megacorp Nestle’s come out with a green announcement: Its Kit Kat bars will be made with fair trade chocolate — in the UK — come mid-January.

The announcement comes after Cadbury decided last year to make its milk chocolate bars with fair trade chocolate — also just in the UK, though the ethical commitment will expand to Canada, New Zealand and Australia this year. No news of when similar conversions will happen with the bars in the U.S.

The fair trade Kit Kat actually isn’t Nestle’s first foray into the fair trade chocolate market. Back in 2006, L’Oreal — which was more than a quarter owned by Nestle — bought up The Body Shop. The Body Shop at that time owned 14% of Day Chocolate Company, which makes Divine chocolate, Dubble bars, and Co-operative Group’s brand of fair trade chocolate. But soon afterwards, The Body Shop handed back its stake in Day Chocolate to Kuapa Kokoo, the cocoa co-op that helped found the brand, making Nestle fair trade chocolate-less again until now.

More long-term, Nestle’s been in the fair trade coffee marketwith its Partner’s Blend instant coffee, which debuted in the UK in 2005 to much confusion and gnashing of teeth among fair trade activists.

Why such controversy when Nestle seemed to be moving in a fairer direction? Nestle started greenwashing itself as an eco-ethical company, never mind that the megacorp’s one of the major culprits that created the coffee crisis to begin with — and that its Partner’s Blend made up less than .1% of Nestle’s coffee imports.

Similar controversy’s brewing around the new fair trade Kit Kats, since Nestle’s also known as one of the major culprits that allow for unfair labor practices in the cocoa industry. While many activists remain rightly skeptical about Nestle’s choice to create a single fair trade chocolate product, the Kit Kat case is pretty different from the Partners’ Blend case, since Nestle’s making fair trade a very popular product already on the market with a huge distribution, versus launching a new niche token product.

Earlier:
>> Where to find fair trade chocolate in Los Angeles
>> nicobella vegan organic chocolate truffles: Decadence with antioxidants
>> Equal Exchange’s new bars: Dark pleasures for eco-ethical chocoholics

In other fair trade news:

>> Educators: Social justice nonprofit Global Exchange’s planning a National Valentine’s Day of Action to teach kids about fair trade. After all, kids shouldn’t let other kids do slave labor to make candy.

>> Green business students: Interested in starting a fair trade business? Apply for a scholarship to go to the 2010 Fair Trade Futures Conference, happening in Sept. 10-12 in in Boston, Mass.

Photo via Nestle UK

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