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From left to right - Faisal Islam (Channel 4 Business correspondent), Sophi Tranchell (Divine Chocolate MD), Phil Hope (Minister for the Third Sector), Charlotte Borger (Divine), Funmi Ogunleye (Divine), Natasha Procter (Divine)
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LEADING Fairtrade business Divine Chocolate Ltd has been announced as the Best Social Enterprise of 2007, from a shortlist of 15 social enterprises. The annual Enterprising Solutions Awards, organised by the Social Enterprise Coalition and designed to find the UK's most dynamic and innovative businesses that trade for a social purpose, was celebrated at the Victoria and Albert Museum. The top award was presented by Phil Hope MP, Minister for the Third Sector.
Divine Chocolate Ltd is a £10m business, 45% owned by the Ghanaian cocoa farmers' cooperative - Kuapa Kokoo - that supplies the Fairtrade cocoa. The company was established in 1998 a year after the farmers had voted at their AGM to set up their own chocolate company in the UK and thus access some of the value of the chocolate market.
Jonathan Bland, chief executive of the Social Enterprise Coalition, praised Divine for being a "flagship social enterprise doing amazing work. Divine Chocolate is a wonderful example of how business principles can be used to create lasting social change and a worthy winner of ESA2007"
Sophi Tranchell, Managing Director of Divine Chocolate, said on receiving the award, "There are very many people I would like to thank for helping us be the company we are today - because social enterprises depend on people having the vision, the imagination and the courage to support bold business plans."
"Ultimately I would like to thank the farmers of Kuapa Kokoo, who have created an thriving democratically run co-operative with 45,000 members - no mean feat in a country largely without running water let alone broadband! Kuapa's story is what makes Divine special - and it is a story that has engaged the chocolate lovers here in the UK - and our thanks to them for buying Divine, and asking their local shops to stock it.
They are the ones that have made change happen." Phil Hope, Minister for the Third Sector added, "I congratulate Divine Chocolate and the other winners of Enterprising Solutions Awards wholeheartedly. They have the vision and the drive to build thriving businesses that give something back to society.
They are an inspiration to the growing numbers of people who want to start their own businesses and benefit the lives of others at the same time."
Divine Chocolate Ltd wins a cash prize of 10,000 pounds and free membership of the Coalition.
The Best New Social Enterprise Award was won by Women Like Us. Three other finalists include the Goodwin Development Trust, McSence and Haven Products. All four received awards and £5,000 each. The awards are run by the Social Enterprise Coalition on behalf of RBS, NatWest and the Cabinet Office, in association with The Observer, Capacity Builders, DCSF and DBERR.
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