In Supply Changes’ new report, “Trends in Implementing Ethical Supply Chains,” Supply Change found that over half of the 65 companies examined had made commitments to tackle deforestation or other sustainability issues within their cocoa supply chains. The new Supply Change report indicates several powerful companies have made no-deforestation commitments to their cocoa supply chains, and are implementing strategies to track cocoa supply, engage suppliers, and procure certified sustainable cocoa.
Companies producing and selling artisan chocolate products–particularly publicly traded consumer goods companies–have grown cautious about adverse publicity linking their supply chains to deforestation and child labour. These companies, and the chocolate industry in general, have been buying cocoa grown in areas susceptible to illegal deforestation for years (such as national parks and other protected forests) and were major drivers of the destruction of forests in the Ivory Coast and Ghana.
Ivory Coast & Ghana are huge cocoa exporters, producing about 70% of global chocolate, and over two million children are employed in the cocoa sector. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, over 2 million children in Ghana & Cote DIvoire are working in dangerous conditions growing cocoa, a key ingredient in chocolate 1.
Despite promises from many major chocolate companies to stop using cocoa harvested by children, much of the chocolate we purchase still tragically involves child labour. While some companies have begun tracking their supply chains to avoid child labour, the vast majority of the 3 million tons of cocoa produced every year comes from small farms in West Africa, where farmers and their children subsist on less than $1 per day2. While the chocolate industry is valued at over $100 billion (and growing), over 80% of the cocoa comes from between seven and eight million small family farms that are hardly able to afford the basics.
The supply chain of chocolate is highly complex and adding to this complexity is that cacao itself is unlike other commodities, it is not grown on massive, easily accessible plantations, but comes from millions of small-scale farmers, who are usually working in remote areas, making oversight challenging, according to Alexander Ferguson, VP of communications at industry trade group the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF). In truth, there are many sustainability and ethical issues within the cacao industry, and this should be a big red flag for its ardent consumers. The efforts of the chocolate industry are being closely examined by an increasingly concerned public, which wants to spend their chocolate dollars supporting companies that promise to produce products that do not employ child labour, nor do they contribute to deforestation, and pay their farmers living wages; they are also looking for those claims to be supported with third-party certifications.
The chocolate industry efforts are scrutinized by increasingly alarmed consumers who would like to spend their chocolate dollars in support of companies that promise a product that does not use child labour or contribute to deforestation, and that pays a living wage to its farmers a product that does not use child labour or contribute to deforestation, and that pays a living wage to its farmers; they also look for these claims to be backed up with third-party certification. With this scorecard, we are looking beyond just how certified the cocoa is, but we are looking at whether a company has innovative programs and projects that tackle some other underlying issues around child labour in cacao, as well as whether a company is working on deforestation. This scorecard is, of course, not meant to be an exhaustive list of ethically sourced chocolate companies; however, this scorecard does include companies that are members of Green Business Network, since Green America has reviewed them for their practices around the environment, social justice, and human rights. Most of the best sustainable chocolate brands have Fair Trade, Direct Trade, Fair for Life, B Corp, Organic, Reforesting, and Carbon Neutrality certifications, among others.
Food retailers should take responsibility and stock these ethically produced chocolate brands on their shelves, and the chocolate wrapper may include a Giving Back option or donation to cruelty-free cocoa farmers. In addition to buying chocolate companies that pay living wages to cocoa farmers, consumers can also support companies that buy beans from sustainable farms, protecting farmers and their livelihoods. Chocolate lovers have the purchasing power to force changes in the chocolate industry, and their first step should be to take a critical look at companies’ labour practices and sources.
Ethical chocolate, then, is meant to tackle the social economic and environmental issues that run through the entire supply chain, including how chocolate is produced according to ethical standards, and where cocoa farmers and workers are paid a fair and sustainable wage. Ethical chocolate means chocolate has been grown, farmed, and produced with Earth in mind, and the companies treated cacao farmers fairly. The key goal of the company is for everyone along the supply chain to feel good about chocolate, from the farmers, right down to the consumers buying the product.
Any chocolate brand owned or sourced cocoa beans from those three companies is not sustainable, either, in my book. Instead, Direct Trade Chocolate companies must focus on both ethically driven initiatives, but also provide a means of connecting with consumers to build the kind of brand loyalty seen between the Big Five chocolate companies.
These missed deadlines for ending child labour use are in large part because these large companies are still not able to determine what farms produce their cocoa from, and by extension whether or not children are involved in their harvesting. Chocolate companies like Mars, Hershey, and Nestle Mars Hershey Nestle all promised to eradicate child labour, however, The Washington Post reported that chocolate companies like Mars were still mostly unable to identify the farms where their cocoa came from and was not able to ensure that any of their chocolate was produced without any child labour. West African cocoa farmers accuse these same companies of using unethical purchasing practices to avoid paying the premiums that would increase farmers’ income, leaving farmers impoverished and perpetuating the cycle of child labour.