Chocolatiers that use ethically sourced cocoa and are not in partnership with any of the complicit companies:
A
B
Belize Chocolate Company Belize
C
Caribeans Chocolate Costa Rica
D
Definite Chocolate Dominican Rep.
Denman Island Chocolate Canada, USA
Dick Taylor Craft Chocolate USA
Diego’s Chocolate USA, Guatemala
E
F
G
Gayleen's Decadence South Africa
Grenada Chocolate Company Grenada
Grocer's Daughter Chocolate USA
H
J
K
L
La Iguana Chocolate Costa Rica
Love’s Ice Cream and Chocolate USA
M
Maleku Chocolate Costa Rica
Maverick Chocolate Company USA
Mexican Arabica Bean Company-Wholesale Canada
N
Nayah Amazon Chocolates Brazil
O
Omanahene Cocoa Bean Company Canada
OpuLux Fair Trade Chocolate USA
Original Hawaiian Chocolate USA
P
Pacari Organic Chocolate Ecuador
R
Rapunzel Pure Organics Germany
S
Shahamana Farms and Chocolate Ghana
T
The Original Chocolate Bar USA
Tobago Estate Chocolate Tobago
Twenty-Four Blackbirds Chocolate USA
V
W
X
Z
Ethical Chocolate Companies
The companies on this list are more than just committed to providing an ethical product. Together we make up a group of activists dedicated to eradicating the worst form of child labor including slavery.
Who is not on the list?
If any of the following companies believe me to be in error, I would be overjoyed to be proved wrong. Until I have seen some evidence to the contrary please consider boycotting:
Nestlé
Mars
Hershey’s
Cadbury
Ghiradelli
See’s Candy
Russel Stovers
World’s Finest Chocolate
Lindt
Tony’s Chocolonely
Guittard
The following are the complicit wholesalers:
Barry Callebaut
Mondelēz
Olam
Cargill
How best to shop for Slave Free Chocolate.
Looking for a Fair Trade, organic label or an explanation of where the cocoa is sourced (from a country without child labor problems) is the best we can do as consumers when purchasing chocolate. Certification programs can only go so far when it comes to eradicating the Worst Forms of Child Labor including slavery. Together they aren’t big enough to be effective. There actually isn’t enough demand for certified chocolate. This movement, though, aids in eliminating poverty where child labor becomes a symptom. I think of Fair Trade as a great ideal that we are in the early stages of adopting correctly. In the meantime, we have 2.3 million children at risk because they are living in too poor of conditions to be part of a healthy certified farm. These are the children that this organization is geared toward helping. All of the cocoa industry and all of the consumers have to participate together to be effective. I know we can do it.
In the meantime, here are some labels to guide you in the purchasing of chocolate as that is one way of sending a message.
Bean to Bar
New boutique chocolate companies are popping up all over the place. They pride themselves on being "Bean to Bar" for ethical and culinary reasons. Read the labels and websites. How are these companies further participating in doing their part to eliminate child labor and slavery in the cocoa industy.
If you are a chocolate company and would like to be added to this list, please send us your information about your company. Please include in your email the following:
Where do source 100% of your cocoa?
Do you have something on your website to spread awareness?
Do you have any initiatives that are either beneficial to the farmers or the environment?
Thank you!
A special shout to Shahamana Farms and Chocolate. Nana was an exploited child in Ghana. He was working on a relatives farm and not enrolled in school. With the help of other family members was able to turn his life around, go to school and now owns his own ethical farm and has started to make his own chocolate. When farmers own the means of production it is a big deal. We are so proud of Nana and the other Ghanians and Ivorians that are working towards this goal.