The power of You behind the brands

by Victoria Marzilli

Two months. That is all it took for chocolate lovers and social justice activists to stand up to three of the biggest food companies in the world and create positive change in the food system.

Mars, Mondelez and Nestlé all agreed to look, listen, and act to make sure women cocoa farmers in their supply chains are respected – and we’re keeping track to make sure they stick to their promises. Check out our Women & Chocolate Action Roadmap to see exactly what the companies need to do to make women’s rights a reality!

Because of the commitment that these three companies have made, their scores are on the move on our Company Scorecard!

Companies are moving

In the Women’s category, Coca-Cola is currently rated #1 with a score of 5 out of 10 (the best of a bad bunch, you could say), but Nestlé is quickly chasing them to the top, showing good signs for following through on their promises.

Meanwhile, Mars and Mondelez who scored 1 and 2 respectively are digging their way up from the bottom. All three companies have signed on to the UN Women’s Empowerment Principles, they have committed to being aware of the role of women in communities and to improving the role of women in their supply chains.

Equal pay, equal rights and equal treatment are the keys to a future free from poverty for millions of women – and their families. While it takes time for real change to be felt, this commitment is an important step in the right direction and it happened because of YOU. Because of your collective voices, a few of the biggest food companies in the world have started to improve, so what about the rest?

Many of them score only a 1 or 2 out of 10 on many issues on our Behind the Brands scorecard. Clearly, the Big 10 still need to do more to make the global food system work for all – but the race is on.

You can make them listen

That’s what the Behind the Brands campaign is all about – the power of you. As consumers, you can raise your voices – online and offline – to tell companies what matters to you and what they can do to change.

This is a new kind of campaigning; we don’t need to stop buying our favorite products to make a difference. Instead, get the facts, find what matters to you, share that information, get your friends involved, send letters, tweet, post to Facebook – the companies will listen, we have proof. The top 10 companies are all racing to the top of the Behind the Brands scorecard, but they won’t get there unless they hear it from you.

What do you think – who will move further up the scorecard in the next six months? Which companies will lag behind?

Victoria Marzilli is Oxfam America New Media Specialist.

This blog originally appeared at https://blogs.oxfam.org/en/blogs/13-06-21-power-you-behind-brands