Honour for fairtrade pioneer

Sophi Tranchell, managing director of the UK fairtrade chocolate company Divine Chocolate, has been awarded an MBE in the New Year’s Honours List.

Sophi Tranchell’s award recognises her service to the food industry. She has led Divine from an under-capitalised idealistic start up in 1999 to today’s status as a mainstream and popular Fairtrade brand with £12m turnover, and profits shared by the Ghanaian cocoa farmers’ cooperative, Kuapa Kokoo, which own 45% of the company.
Sophi notes, “It is great to be acknowledged for doing something you love. Working for the farmers of Kuapa Kokoo has been a privilege but it has also been a constant inspiration to see chocolate lovers here respond to Divine and the farmer-owned Fairtrade proposition. Growing a business in such a competitive environment can be tough ” but chocolate invariably makes people smile ” and we offer a very big reason to smile.”
She adds, “In this challenging economic climate I hope that the success of mission-driven companies like Divine heralds a new era of businesses where decision-making and money ends up in the hands of the many, not of the few.”