Whether you are nibbling on a few squares of chocolate after dinner or making a cup of hot chocolate, there’s a lot of different things to know about where your chocolate comes from.
Starting with cocoa
The basis of all chocolate is the cocoa bean, which come from the cacao tree. After harvesting, the beans and pulp are fermented, dried, roasted, and ground. The resulting cocoa mass contains both cocoa butter and cocoa particles, both of which are used in chocolate.
Cocoa beans are grown in tropical countries including Central and South America, West Africa and South East Asia. The majority of beans though, around 70 per cent, are grown in four countries in West Africa; Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon. The beans are mostly grown by small farmers, but the growth of the market and the declining production of older trees means that deforestation is a real issue – around a third of the deforestation in Ghana and the Ivory Coast is attributed to cocoa production.
Child labour
Child labour is incredibly common on cocoa farms, with recent research suggesting 1.56 million children are working on cocoa farms in Ghana and the Ivory Coast alone. While some certifications are working on reducing this, it has proved difficult to address given the low price farmers receive for the cocoa beans.
Tony’s Chocolonely has adopted a novel approach to addressing this, as Belinda Borck, their Global Public Policy Coordinator explains; “We actively look for cases of child labour in our supply chain. That’s because when we find it, we can solve it. If companies say they don’t have child labour in their supply chains and they source cocoa from West Africa, they’re just not looking for it because its endemic. Once we identify cases of child labour we work with the family and community to remediate it and get the child back to school. In the cooperative communities we have worked with the longest, we have been able to reduce the child labour prevalence rate from 46.5% (1 in 2) to 4.4% (1 in 20) and we’re really proud of that.”
The price of cocoa
Most cocoa farmers receive a low price for their cocoa beans; a small percentage of what the customer pays for their bar. In some countries such as Ghana and the Ivory Coast, the minimum cost to be paid to a farmer – known as the farmgate price – is set by the Government. Farmers usually sell into a cooperative, who in turn sell to brokers or traders. There is a second price set by the Government which is the minimum export price for when the cocoa leaves the country, but these prices are generally dwarfed by the price on the global cocoa derivative market. In 2024, the Ghanaian farmgate price was increased to $3,062 a tonne, but the global market hit $11,000 a tonne.
Many smaller chocolate producers are forming direct relationships with cocoa farmers. “Sourcing cocoa directly from farmers enables us to ensure they receive significantly higher prices for their produce, which not only improves their livelihoods but also eliminates the economic pressures that often lead to child or forced labour,” Michael Longman from Chocolarder points out, before explaining that they also invest in educational initiatives on sustainable farming practices and environmental stewardship.
Value-Added-At-Source (VAS)
The aim of VAS chocolate is to process the beans into chocolate in the origin country, thereby keeping more of the profit of chocolate in the country of production. “By working directly with the farmers, everyone benefits and more of the value chain is kept in the countries of origin as they are producing a value added finished product to export direct to us,” Claire Burnet from Chococo explains; “And we have 100 per cent traceability of where our cocoa comes from and the chocolate that we work with here at Chococo.”
Fairtrade
Under Fairtrade, a price – known as the Fairtrade Minimum Price – must be paid to farmers, which protects farmers from price fluctuations and reductions in the global commodity market. Farmers also receive a Fairtrade Premium, which goes into a local fund representatives of the local cooperative decide how best to spend in the community.
Fairtrade allows something called Mass Balance sourcing, which means that certified and non-certified produce may be mixed through the supply chain, but the volume of cocoa in resulting certified products matches the volume bought from the farmer. For Fairtrade, a different mark is used for mass balancing. It’s a controversial topic, with some feeling it reduces the impact of Fairtrade, whilst others arguing it makes it easier for larger producers to transition.
Rainforest Alliance
The Rainforest Alliance certification covers a number of sustainability and ethical aspects, including sustainable farming methods, encouraging biodiversity, and tracking and addressing child labour. For their involvement in the scheme, farmers receive a premium (currently $70/tonne) on the sale price of their cocoa.
Organic certification
Organic certification looks at the farming and production systems behind the beans, sugar and milk in our bars. This means that fertility and pests are managed using organic practices rather than nitrogen fertilisers and pesticides, and that soil health and biodiversity are prioritised. It should be looked for alongside other certification marks to ensure that the human impact of the supply chain is also being considered.
Other labels
There are a multitude of other labels, many of which are specific to a single brand, such as Nestle’s Cocoa Plan and Mars’ Cocoa for Generations. These schemes often use non-specific language like ‘decent working conditions’, usually don’t cover 100 per cent of their supply chain, and have drawn accusations of green and labour-washing. Most experts suggest that paying a higher price for the cocoa would have a bigger impact on farmers.
What else is in your bar?
While it is possible to buy 100 per cent cocoa chocolate, most people prefer a lower percentage for a sweeter or creamier taste. In the UK, the legal minimum cocoa solids content for milk chocolate is 25 per cent, and 20 per cent cocoa butter for white chocolate. This means that some of the chocolate on our shelves has more sugar in it than cocoa. Also watch out for ingredients such as palm oil that have a wider environmental impact.
“Every ingredient we use reflects our commitment to sustainability and ethics,” Michael Longman from Chocolarder tells me. “When so much effort goes into producing truly sustainable chocolate, it would be short-sighted to undermine this with poorly sourced ingredients, plastic packaging or any other unsustainable practices.”
Considering sugar
The majority of chocolate sold includes something to sweeten the natural bitterness of the cocoa. Sugar is the most common sweetener, but as with cocoa, it has a complicated and problematic supply chain. Child or forced labour is again common, traceability through the supply chain is difficult, and farming methods are impacting on soil degradation around the world.
Sugar can be certified both Fairtrade and Organic, so choosing chocolate with these certifications will mean that the sugar sourcing is in line with these standards.
Other sweeteners
There is a growing number of brands opting for alternatives to cane sugar. However being sugar-free isn’t necessarily a positive thing, with some commercial brands using highly processed artificial sweeteners. Some independent brands use more natural and unrefined alternatives, from raw coconut sugar, to lucuma (a dried fruit sweetener) and jaggery (an unrefined sugar made from palm sap or sugarcane).
Milk or dark?
Many of us have a taste for milk chocolate, but this brings in the question of where the milk comes from. Many of the certifications you see on chocolate refer only to the cocoa sourcing, but an organic bar will mean the dairy is also produced to organic standards.
There has been a recent rise in vegan chocolate, with people replacing the creaminess that is brought by dairy with a range of alternatives such as coconut, oat and rice extracts.
Raw
Raw chocolate has a different processing method, drying the beans outdoors instead of roasting them. To make a bar, the dried raw cacao beans are crushed, and cold pressed to extract cacao butter.
Many producers claim that raw chocolate is higher in antioxidants and nutrients, but other experts claim that quality high percentage cocoa dark chocolate has the same benefits.
This feature is part of our new WL Sustainable Food Series, by Steph Wetherell, which includes guides on fruit, veg, bread, meat, and more, over the coming weeks.
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