'Brands to avoid': Mars and Cadbury among chocolate firms criticised in ethics report

Source: The Observer

‘Brands to avoid’: Mars and Cadbury among chocolate firms criticised in ethics report

Only 17 out of 82 companies investigated were found to use suppliers that paid cocoa farmers enough to live on

James Tapper
Sat 2 Dec 2023 12.00 GMT
Last modified on Sat 2 Dec 2023 22.18 GMT

Leading chocolate brands have been criticised for having “inadequate” ethical standards in their cocoa supply chain in a report from Ethical Consumer. Only 17 out of 82 brands investigated by the consumer organisation were judged to be using chocolate from suppliers that ensured farmers were paid enough to live on.

As a result, there is a risk that Advent calendars, chocolate Santas and other Christmas treats will have been produced with child labour. About 60% of the world’s cocoa comes from west Africa, and about six in 10 cocoa-growing households in Ghana are estimated to use child labour, with four in 10 in Ivory Coast.

Ethical Consumer recommended Tony’s Chocolonely, Divine and Chocolat Madagascar among the brands which paid Fairtrade International or Rainforest Alliance rates or higher, and use chocolate made in the country of origin rather than from imported beans. That helps the economies of cocoa-producing countries rather than European manufacturers.

It rated Mars, Nestlé and Mondelēz, which owns Cadbury, as poor and “brands to avoid”, while Ferrero was rated poor.

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Read more: https://archive.is/JDMmh

Original Guardian link (registration required): https://www.theguardian.com/food/2023/dec/02/brands-to-avoid-mars-cadbury-chocolate-firms-criticised-ethics-report