Chocolate Companies Opt To Uproot Unfair Labor Practices

New chocolate makers are trying to forge new supply chains and build new relationships in an attempt to build a more ethical chocolate bar, one that has not been produced by child labor, Emily Baron Cadloff reported for the US-based Modern Farmer.

Photo Insert: A limited-edition caramel Mars Bar

For major companies such as Mars and Cadbury, much of the cacao is harvested from West African like Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, where harvesters are often teens and children, some under the age of 10.

A 2019 Department of Labor report said more than 1.56 million children work on cacao farms “engaged in hazardous work” like spraying chemicals and using sharp knives to collect cocoa pods.

Despite Hershey, Nestlé, and Cadbury addressing the issues—including signing the Harkin-Engel Protocol, an agreement that aims to “eliminate child slavery on West African cocoa plantations”—child labor is still used. Several of these companies missed deadlines to end child labor in their supply chains in 2005, 2008, and again in 2010.

For smaller chocolate producers, the goal is to reinvent the existing jundustry—from the relationships with the cocoa farmers to the way the product is shipped—but many say that will take buy-in from consumers.

“We started doing that education with coffee, like people are OK with buying their cup of coffee for $7 dollars,” says Corinne Joachim Sanon Symietz, CEO of Askanya Chocolates, Haiti’s first and only premier bean-to-bar company.

“That’s why we like to do events where we can talk to the customers.” Askanya Chocolates features Haitian cacao, with all bars being produced in Haiti.

The importance of those relationships can’t be overstated, says Gregory D’Alesandre, chief sourcing officer for Dandelion Chocolate in San Francisco. Dandelion sources cocoa from across the globe, but it doesn’t blend them to create a more homogenous flavor.

They approach the process like fine winemaking, ensuring each region’s flavors shine through in their individual bars. The only way to do that ethically, says D’Alesandre, is to go to these farms, meet the farmers and form a connection with them. Brooklyn-based Beyond Good Chocolate has stopped dealing with layers of middlemen.

“You can’t work directly with cocoa farmers if you’re not manufacturing in the country of origin,” says CEO Tim McCollum. Beyond Good’s main cocoa suppliers are in Madagascar, so they built a production facility there. They have more control over the quality of the product, and the farmers make more money without having to deal with other steps.

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