World Vision’s No Child For Sale Campaign aims to decrease the number of children whose futures are compromised or lost because they are forced to work in dangerous jobs. The Good Chocolate Guide celebrates many of the companies offering ethical chocolate—chocolate that aims to keep children out of dangerous work.
These products are easily found through many retailers. Make a delicious and ethical choice because chocolate shouldn’t hurt children. Check these chocolates out!
1) Alter Eco
Fair Trade Certified
All of the alter eco’s cocoa beans are plucked from organic trees in the peruvian Amazon and ecuadorian coast. Together with alter eco, you are changing the world, one delicious bite at a time.
2) Belvas
Fair Trade Certified
Using fair trade certified ingredients, this belgian chocolatier produces belgian chocolates and truffles of the highest quality.
3) Cadbury
Fair Trade Certified
If you are looking for a dairy milk bar that tastes good and feel good at the same time, look for these fair trade certified flavors. Cadbury Dairy Milk, Cadbury Dairy Milk Bubbly Mint, and Cadbury Milk Bubbly White.
4) Camino
Fair Trade Certified
Camino chocolates, sugar, and coffee are made from quality ingredients, grown by family farmers in Central and South America, and Southeast Asia.
5) Carrefour de Solidarite Internationale
Fair Trade Certified
Carrefour de Solidarite Internationale partnered with a local small business, choco-la, to launch the first fair trade certified bar in 2007 and now have other tasty flavours.
6) Chocolove
Fair Trade USA Certified
Chocolove has a continuing commitment to social and ethical responsibility. As such, they make and sell three flavors of organically grown and fair trade USA chocolate bars.
7) Coconut Secret
Fair Trade Certified Ingredients
A magical fusion of single-origin fair trade chocolate ingredients with toasted coconut and low glycemic coconut crystals.
8) Cote d’Or
Rainforest Alliance Certified
All Cote d’Or chocolates are made with cocoa from rainforest alliance certified farms.
9) Dagoba
Rainforest Alliance Certified
Dagoba’s mission is to craft deeply satisfying chocolate in a socially responsible way.
10) Denman Island
Fair Trade Certified
Denman Island chocolate donates 1% of gross income to local groups that support environmental conservation.
11) Divine
Fair Trade Certified
Divine is the only fair trade certified company that is owned by its cocoa farmers. It gives them a share of profit and a stronger voice in the cocoa industry.
12) Endangered Species Chocolate
Rainforest Alliance Certified
On top of sourcing cocoa from rainforest alliance certified cacao farms, Endangered Species chocolate also donates 10% of net profits to organizations that support species conservation, habitat preservation, and humanitarian efforts.
13) Equal Exchange
Fairly Traded
Equal exchange chocolates are certified using only the purest ingredients, grown with care by small farmer co-ops, which the company believes are the heart and soul of the fair trade movement.
14) Ethiquable
Fair Trade Certified
Since 2011, Ethiquable has adopted a fair trade approach with French producers, with most of their chocolate being fair trade certified.
15) Galerie Au Chocolat
Fair Trade Certified
Galerie Au Chocolat’s mission is to use the finest ingredients from the most reputable suppliers and produce quality chocolates that are truly second to none.
16) Green & Black’s
Fair Trade Certified
From the very first batch of Green & Black’s Maya gold bar in 1994, and every batch since, their cocoa has been source directly from the farmers, giving them a fair price for their crop.
17) Ikea
Utz Certified
Ikea has always strongly believed in protecting children. In the year 2000, they developed a child labour code of conduct with the advice from the International Labour Organization.
18) Just Us!
Fair Trade Certified
Just Us! Started with a real passion for social justice. Going beyond providing moral support and emergency aid for Latin America, they resolved to pay a fair price for their high quality coffee so their communities could control their own destinies. Now they offer fair trade certified chocolate as well.
19) Justin’s
Rainforest Alliance Certified
Justin’s milk chocolate and dark chocolate peanut butter cups are both organic and rainforest alliance certified.
20) Lily’s
Fair Trade Certified
Lily’s stevia-sweetened chocolate only uses the finest, all-natural, non-gmo ingredients, including genuine, fair trade certified cocoa.
21) Oxfam Fairtrade
Fair Trade Certified
Oxfam Fairtrade brings you a world of quality fair trade products.
22) Tcho
Fair Trade Certified Ingredients
Tcho partners with growers and coops and transfers knowledge about growing and fermentation to enable farmers to become premium producers and create a relationship of mutual self-interest that goes beyond fair trade.
23) The Good Bean
Fair Trade Certified
The good bean fruit and no-nut chocolate berry bar is packed with whole roasted chickpeas, chunks of fair trade chocolate, and a tangy mix of blueberries, cranberries, and cherries.
24) Theo
Fair For Life Certified
Theo is proud to be the first organic and fair trade bean-to-bar chocolate factory in North America.
25) Theobroma
Fair Trade Certified
Theobroma has made it their mission to support the fair trade movement and currently has 11 chocolate bars that are fair trade certified.
26) Zazubean
Fair For Life Certified
All of Zazubean’s chocolate is dark to maximize health properties, certified organic to ensure our food and planet is kept safe and also certified fair trade, ensuring that all people connected to the product have been treated with dignity and respect.
So, what to look for when buying ethical chocolate?
Look for these symbols on chocolate! To use any of these certifications, a company must work with a third party certifier to prevent and address child labour. They have been independently verified to meet credible Fair Trade International Certified, Fair Trade USA Certified, Rainforest Alliance Certified, UTZ Certified, and Fair For Life Certified standards.
Learn more about the "bitter truth about chocolate" in World Vision's new report, "A Matter of Taste: The Impact of Certification Systems" here.
The views expressed here are not necessarily those of each of the partners of Global Citizen.