With Easter nearly upon us our mind turns to eggs, the delicious chocolate kind! The supermarket shelves have been filled with Easter eggs for months no doubt. With so many brands to choose from it can be overwhelming if you’d like to opt for a more ethical choice.
The chocolate world is awash with unethical practices. A blog could be written on each area but briefly these are…
- Child labour – hazardous conditions without proper pay or education
- Deforestation – clearing land for cocoa production that leads to environmental destruction
- Exploitation of farmers – middlemen and corporations exploit farmers with low prices leading to economic hardship
- Lack of transparency – this makes it impossible to trace the origins of cocoa and hold corporations to account
With that being said the brands to avoid are Nestle, Cadbury, Mars and Ferrero. These are top of the list. They have been criticised by the Ethical Consumer for their ‘unethical practices’, which is putting it politely when the supply chain involves child labour and not paying farmers enough to actually live on. They’ve also been much slower to adopt plastic-free packaging than many other brands.
So given all the competition on the supermarket shelves we’d recommend doing a bit of research to help. There are two excellent places to look for reliable information. First is the Ethical Consumer, where you can search for individual brands and it will list all their ethical or unethical practices under categories such as environment and people, packaging is also discussed.
You can also go a step further and search for brands on the B Corporation website. B Corp certification requires a rigorous assessment that business practices meet the highest social and environmental standards to ensure businesses are a force for good for people, communities and the planet. When you choose to support a brand that have B Corp status then rest assured you are supporting an ethical brand. Divine and Tony’s Chocoloney are B Corps and you’ll find their chocolate in the supermarket.
The price of Easter eggs is also an important factor, particularly in today’s economic climate. The Co-op is a great option as all their chocolate is certified Fairtrade and a good option for lower budgets.
I hope the above is helpful. With the two resources I’ve mentioned you’ll find all the information you need to make an informed decision on which brands to support this Easter or plan for next time. Happy egg hunting!