Supermarkets fail to respond to Bishop’s Invitation
Local supermarket managers have not replied to an invitation from the Bishop of Hereford to sample fairly traded chocolate. Managers at Asda, Sainsbury’s and Tesco branches in the area covered by the Diocese were invited to The Palace on 31st January to taste the fairly traded chocolate Easter eggs that nationally these supermarkets have refused to stock.
“The Bishop sent personal invitations to all our local managers at these stores but only one has bothered to reply, which rather surprises us,” said Anni Holden, spokeswoman for the Bishop and the Diocese. “We hoped they would find it a welcoming invitation, and we did recognise in the letter that local managers do not make the buying decisions but nonetheless hoped they would want to come along.”
In his letter, Bishop Anthony Priddis invited them for coffee and chocolate that was fairly traded. It is the chocolate used in the Really Meaningful Easter Egg, being stocked by their rivals, Waitrose, Morrison’s and the Co-op.
The Real Easter Egg is the first and only Fairtrade Easter egg to explain the Easter story on the box and give money to charity. It was launched last year and churches and schools joined a campaign to establish the egg by placing tens of thousands of orders through mail order which were delivered by Traidcraft.
Morrison’s, Booths, Co-op and Waitrose decided to trial The Real Easter Egg for Easter 2011. They all sold out within days with people walking past Cadbury’s two-for-one offers. Waitrose was inundated with online orders for hundreds of eggs as millions of Christians searched for the only remaining supplies.
On the back of this, it was hoped that all the supermarkets would stock it this year but Asda, Sainsbury’s and Tesco again declined to do so despite its success. Bishop Anthony decided to try and engage locally with stores in the Diocese. “I recognise that as a local store manager you do not make the decisions about buying policies for your supermarket but I believe you are not voiceless in those decisions,” he wrote.
Pupils from two Hereford primary schools have also been invited along to give their opinions to not only the Bishop but also to the man behind the Really Meaningful Chocolate Company, David Marshall, so chocolate tasting and sampling will take place.
“We hoped that the children could feed back to both the company and the supermarket managers at the same time and are sorry that the managers do not think it worth coming along to,” added Anni Holden.
Note to Editors: Chocolate tasting and sampling will take place in the Greta Hall the Palace Hereford on Tuesday 31st January at 10.30. Pupils from 2 local primary schools are coming along to meet the Bishop of Hereford and David Marshall, MD of The Meaningful Chocolate Company and to try the chocolate eggs. The Real Easter Egg is the first and only Fairtrade Easter egg to explain the Easter story on the box and give money to charity. It was launched last year (2011)
Press are very welcome at the event and could be allowed to sample chocolate too!
The Manager of Sainsbury’s in Bridgnorth declined but responded, those from Sainsbury’s Tesco and Asda in Ledbury, Ludlow, Hereford and Ross – on –Wye did not reply at all.
The letter sent by Bishop Anthony Priddis is below
Invitation to Coffee and Chocolate Tasting with the Bishop of Hereford
As the local Bishop, I would like to invite you to The Palace in Hereford on Tuesday,
31st January at 10.30am for coffee and chocolate in the Great Hall, one of the oldest historic buildings in the country. I would very much like to welcome you and to give you a personal chance to view and sample the Real Easter Egg.
As you may know, the Real Easter Egg was produced and sold very successfully last year in several leading supermarkets, selling out within days. With proven and overwhelming demand and quick sell outs, we expected a significant increase in the number of eggs this year. However, it seems that«Branch» is still not prepared to stock this new product, which we find very disappointing.
This year’s egg retailing at £3.99, the same as last year, not only contains 125gram egg of high quality fair-trade chocolate but the colourful box also contains a cartoon story about the real meaning of Easter. I recognise that as a local store manager you do not make all the decisions about buying policies for your supermarket, but I believe you are not voiceless in those decisions. I also think that any links we can make between the church and managers like yourself cannot be a bad thing, and I do hope you will feel this is important enough to accept my invitation. Please let us know by 20th January 2012. It will be very good to meet you.
With best wishes for the New Year.
Bishop Anthony Priddis