9 Ethically Sourced Fair Trade Chocolate Companies

Dec 20, 2018 | Earth-Friendly

Photo by Polina Tankilevitch via Unsplash.

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Nestlé, Mars, and Hershey employ hundreds of thousands of people annually in order to sustain their chocolate empires. According to the World Cocoa Foundation, nearly 60% of the world’s cocoa is produced in West African countries of Ghana and the Ivory Coast. These cocoa crops are mainly grown on small, isolated, underdeveloped, family-run farms. These leaders of the chocolate confectionary industry are notorius for greenwashing. They’ve come underfire for child slave labor, environmental damage, false advertising, and lack of transparency within their cocoa supply chain.

With our purchasing power, we can choose to support socially and environmentally responsible chocolate companies that employ Fair Trade and Direct Trade practices with the farmers who cultivate their cocoa crops.

Alter Eco

AlterEco is known for their organic, regenerative, and fair trade chocolate bars and truffles. The award winning chocolate company is in-setting carbon emissions by means of large-scale reforestation/conservation programs in the cooperatives that produce its crops. They are also working towards 100% compostable packaging.

Photos by Alter Eco.

• Certified B Corporation
• USDA Certified Organic
• Fair Trade Certified
• Climate Neutral Certified
• Non-GMO
• Certified Gluten Free (excluding Dark Salt & Malt)
• Palm Oil and Soy Free
• Amazon Alliance Partner

SHOP ALTER ECO

UnReal

Unreal is reinventing our favorite classic candies like peanut butter cups and mounds bars but with better ingredients, and better ethics.

Photos from UnReal.

• Certified Fair Trade Chocolate
• Organic Ingredients
•. Most Products Certified Vegan
• Most Products Certified Gluten Free
• Certified Kosher
• Non-GMO Project Verified
• Corn and Soy Free

SHOP UNREAL

Loving Earth

Loving Earth ⓥ is an ethically driven company that believes food is sacred. The company makes chocolate from cacao which has been grown by the Ashaninka community, in the remote forest at the source of the Amazon River in Peru, the place where cacao originated.

Photos from Loving Earth.

• Fair Trade
• Regenerative Asháninka Cacao
• Plant-Based Ingredients
• Certified Vegan
• Certified USDA Organic
• Kosher
• Gluten, Dairy, Soy, and Cane Sugar Free
• Made in a Solar Powered Factory
• Chocolate Wrapper is Entirely Home Compostable

SHOP LOVING EARTH

Hu

Hu ⓥ obsessively vets every ingredient to unite unbeatable taste with unmatched simplicity. They go beyond what is easy and expected to ensure that their products and their practices are ethical and put both humanity and the human body first.

Photos from Hu.

• Fair Trade
• Certified Vegan
• Certified USDA Organic
• Non-GMO Project Verified
• Certified Paleo and Keto
• Certified Gluten Free
• Kosher
• Palm Oil, Soy, Dairy, Cane Sugar, Refined Sugar Free

SHOP HU

Theo

Theo works directly with farmers in the Norandino Cooperative in Peru and Esco-Kivu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to source organic and fair trade certified cocoa that benefits farmers and the environment.

Photos from Theo.

• Fair Trade
• Certified USDA Organic
• Non-GMO
• Kosher
• Gluten + Soy Free

SHOP THEO

Beyond Good

Beyond Good purchases organic, heirloom chocolate from Madagascar and single origin chocolate from Uganda directly from farmers making 6x the industry standard.

Photos from Beyond Good.

• Fair Trade
• Certified USDA Organic
• Some Vegan Options
• Gluten Free
• Heirloom and Single Origin Cacao
• Publishes a Social Impact Report

SHOP BEYOND GOOD

Evolved

Evolved is a health-conscious chocolate brand that sweetens their paleo chocolate with organic coconut sugar that does not contribute to deforestation, and they sweeten their keto chocolate with organic monk fruit extract.

Photos from Evolved.

• Fair Trade
• Rainforest Alliance Sourced Cacao
• Certified Organic
• Vegan
• Gluten, Dairy, and Soy Free
• Paleo/Primal Friendly (except Oatmeal Cookie Dough Filled Bar)

SHOP EVOLVED

Moka Origins

Moka Origins makes bean-to-bar chocolate (and specialty coffee) based in Honesdale PA with farms in Cameroon, Africa. They grow their cacao under the shade of plantain and fruit trees such as avocado, mango, and citrus. Their mission in Cameroon is creating food security, market linkage, and employment opportunities by partnering with farmers as well as directly cultivating local food crops and cash crops (such as cacao), and starting a Farmers Field School.

Photos from Moka Origins.

• Fair Trade Certified
• Certified USDA Organic
• Rainforest Alliance Certified
• Direct Trade
• Single Origin Cacao
• Small Batch
• Committed to Planting Thousands of Trees

SHOP MOKA ORIGINS

Rad Chocolate

Rad Chocolate is a small family-owned chocolate manufacturer from San Diego, California. They make chocolate with sweetened maple sugar!

Photos from Rad Chocolate.

• Fair Trade
• Certified Organic
• Single Origin Cocoa
• Vegan
• Paleo Friendly
• Gluten, Soy, and Dairy Free

SHOP RAD CHOCOLATE

Honorable Mentions

Endangered
Species Chocolate

Endangered Species Chocolate is not certified organic. The company stated that they source their cocoa from small family owned co-ops in West Africa that simply do not have the resources to afford organic certification. They feel confident that their cocoa is grown sustainably with little to no usage of pesticides.

Endangered Species chocolate is a premium chocolate maker on a mission to support wildlife. 10% of net profits are donated to species and habitat conservation. The chocolate is sourced from small cacao co-ops that employ sustainable farming practices.

Photos from Endangered Species Chocolate.

• Fair Trade Certified
• Rainforest Alliance Certified Chocolate
• Non-GMO Project Verified
• Certified Gluten Free
• Certified Kosher
• Palm Oil Free
• Publishes An Impact Report
• Some Vegan Certified Products
• Partners w/ Conservation Organizations

SHOP ENDANGERED SPECIES
CHOCOLATE

Lily’s

Lily’s chocolate is also not certified organic however this is a great choice for health-conscious people. The chocolate has 25% fewer calories than conventional chocolates because it is botanically sweetened – meaning no refined or processed sugars!