Sweet Dreams: Green and Blacks by Craig Sams and Josephine Fairley

Sweet Dreams is the story of Craig Sams and Josephine Fairley's creation of the ethical choclate company Green and Blacks.

The Green and Blacks chocolate bar was released in August 1991, and received rave reviews in the Independent, Sunday Times and Taste magazine.

By October 1991, 913 crates had been sold.

The problem of distribution first came up in 1993 when the supply of cocoa from Togo was interrupted due to civil war, but a deal with Belize cocoa farmers solved this and led to the creation of the Maya Gold bar.

Organic certification was gained from the Fairtrade Foundation and Soil Assocation, and Sainsburys became the first supermarket to stock the bar.

After poor sales at the Hampton Court Flower show in 1995, the pair decided to sell ice cream so they could make money in hot weather as well as cold.

In 1998, trouble struck. There was a huge hole in the budget and £350,000 was missing. Sams and Fairley were forced to take their former managing director Alan Wills to court to get back the £32000 profit share they had given him.

A deal was agreed with Duerr's where they would take over and finance all of Green and Black's stock, as well as extend Sams and Fairley a £600,000 loan. Green and Blacks also did a deal with Italian chocolate maker ICAM to buy chocolate directly from them.

In 2003, Cadbury's bought 5% of the company and the company was sold to them in 2005. The company are praised in the book for their ethical activities, including giving jobs to the homeless and raising money for wells in Ghana.

Craig Sams and Josephine Fairley are still non-executive directors of Green and Blacks and currently run Judges Bakery in Sussex and the Wellington Square Natural Health Centre.

Throughout Sweet Dreams, the pair emphasise the importance of ethical business and explain the lives of cocoa growers around the globe.

There is also an interesting potted history of chocolate, from harvest to chocolate bar, as well the way to taste chocolate and tips on how to keep yourself healthy and energetic.

Sweet Dreams offers plenty of advice for those thinking of going into ethical business, as well as the exciting story of one brand.