Non-Slave Labor Chocolate?
Non-Slave Labor Chocolate?
I should've asked this earlier before I did the chocolate buying but as the title says, any options for chocolate not made by slave labor?
Tony Chocoloney!
Literally the only one to my knowledge that actually goes out to ensure they're not just being lied to. They are also open about the fact that even though they do their best, they can't absolutely guarantee they're 100% slave free.
Orgs like "fair trade" for example just take the word of producers. It's happened that a tv crew went out to visit one of their farms only to find child slaves at work.
I love their dark chocolate and almond bar. It's so good.
The only mass production ethical chocolate I trust is Tony's Chocolonely, because they're the most transparent about how they source their chocolate, acknowledge that they can never be perfect in their goal, and actively try to improve conditions for workers that grow cocoa. I will also buy local artisan chocolate while traveling.
Basically, I've decided that chocolate isn't worth the neo-imperialism and slave labor.
Look for this fairtrade logo
Hard agree. Any statements about working conditions a company makes needs third party verification. Last time I checked, the Fair Trade peeps were the most reputable verifiers.
Unfortunately, according to the John Oliver segment on chocolate, it is almost impossible to guarantee that the chocolate you buy does not use slave labor in the process. Even the most ethical of companies get lied to.
Today I went to Trader Joes and got their in store brand Chocolate Minis. The ones I got were $2 a pack and didn't say fair trade on them but slightly more expensive. The ones to the left said organic and fair trade so I don't know where the cheaper one is sourced from.
For personal consumption, I've been eating Aldi chocolate which has some fancy name and it's fair trade and ethically sourced.
I've heard Sprouts has good options but anecdotally I hear it sucks in comparison to Aldi's.
I know Whole Foods is an option but I'm not supporting bezos
Never personally had the pleasure of purchasing it, but I understand Tony's Chocolonely is often considered the go-to for affordable and ethically sourced chocolate. It's obviously still more expensive than what you'll find at the grocery store, but, you know, slavery.
In similarity to coffee: Consider very small producers. The problem with coffe and chocolate is that the real taste only results from the last production steps (after fermentation and roasting). That means that companies that buy from many small farms (sometimes hundreds) have no clue which farm did it the best and thus the farmers also don't know it.
But because only the farmers have a really strong influence on the quality of the chocolate they need to know if what they did was right.
Now a small company might have their own farms or work with very few suppliers they can give feedback about the quality. The farmers can produce better raw chocolate beans and the chocolate tastes best.
Also because the farmers learn their worth we westeners can't exploit them so nicely and we avoid slavery.
Small grower-manufacturers that make bean to bar chocolate. Also has the advantage of higher quality chocolate that keeps the natural cocoa butter instead of adding milk.
Can you name any brands that do this?
Jouvay and The Grenada Chocolate Company. Both export, I believe. So might be available where you are.