Eco-friendly chocolate-eating needs no occasion. The taste is heavenly. For the nougats and nuts delightful. Feasting on chocolates is not just a sweet treat but something to recharge one’s mind and boost creativity. The consumerist culture surrounding chocolates is presenting it as a new business opportunity for chocolate makers.
However, chocolate-making has a negative side to it. The US Department of Labor’s shocking finding shows over 2 million children in Ghana and Ivory Coast working in hazardous conditions while making cocoa the critical ingredient in chocolate. Small farmers in West Africa who live on a dismal income of less than $2 a day produce 3 million tons of cocoa annually. Therefore, ethically sourced chocolates with certification labels are a bright light in addressing child labor and promoting sound business practices in cocoa. Let us know more about seven sustainable brands making chocolate ethically. Aka eco-friendly chocolate!
1. Alter Eco Foods
This Swiss-made dark chocolate brand isn’t just smooth; it also has the contribution of small farm practices. Alter Eco’s diverse flavor of Deep Dark Salt & Malt, Dark Salted Burnt Caramel, and Deep Dark Quinoa Crunch serve as delicious personalized gifts for your family and business friends. The sustainable chocolate brand has also brought about new packaging for its organic and Fair-Trade chocolate bars. The brand’s sublime-flavored truffles, bars, clusters, and bundles. For not only do they reflect the company’s commitment to regenerative agriculture. However they also improve your outlook on life.
2. Divine Chocolate
Divine Chocolate is also a Fair-trade Chocolate Company. Thereby empowering Ghana farmers in the cocoa business. The first bar of Divine called Divine Fair trade Milk Chocolate, launched in 1998, is now available in many supermarkets in the UK and the US. Divine Chocolate uses no palm oil in any of its products. In 2019, the company celebrated 20 years of championing cocoa farmers. Additionally, Divine Chocolate’s ‘bean to bar’ approach shows the brand’s commitment to value and cherish chocolate farmers.
3. Endangered Species Chocolate
Indiana-based Endangered Species Chocolate (ESC) uses responsibly sourced ingredients in its ethical chocolate-making. Correspondingly, it donates 10 percent of its net profits in conservation efforts. Lions, chimpanzees, rhinos are some animals that benefit from the purchase you make. In fact, ESC has donated over $2.6 million since 2016 to its Give Back Partners that focus on wildlife conservation. Each ESC chocolate product is free from sweeteners and additives. So, you eat and gift health-conscious, premium, and authentic chocolate in every ESC bite.
4. Phillip Ashley Chocolates
The award-winning chocolatier Chef Phillipe Ashley Rix is a global brand. He has created countless chocolates for Hollywood’s elite and chocolate connoisseurs at the Emmys, Oscar’s, and Grammy’s. FORBES named Phillipe Ashley as the ‘Real-Life Willy Wonka’ in 2014. Moreover, Ashley prepares luxury chocolates using fair trade practices. Choicest and sustainable ingredients are used to make chocolates in small batches. Ashley’s designer chocolates cater to hospitality clients such as Airbnb operators, boutique hotels, star-properties. His art of chocolate making is unique and impeccable, and customized to short and voluminous orders.
5. Theo Chocolate
Theo Chocolate brings you award-winning bars, candies, and confections in social partnership with farmers. The Seattle-based factory creates deliciously inspiring products for all reason and occasion. Join the brand’s Virtual Chocolate Tasting Class in beautiful Seattle without a physical trip. Their cookies and cashew bars are crowd-pleasers. Furthermore, peanut butter lovers can find the Peanut Butter Buddy Bar blissful for its milk-coated peanut butter candy. Theo Chocolate, named The Best Vegan Chocolate in the VegNews 2021 Veggie Awards, conveys a lot about the brand’s dedication to small farming practices.
Price Per Bar: $2.99- $3.99
6. Equal Exchange
With 130 equal stake co-workers, Equal Exchange is a democratic worker cooperative engaged in the tea, coffee, and chocolate industries since 1986. This eco-friendly company strives to build environmentally sound long-term partnerships between farmers and consumers through fair trade practices. Therefore, small-scale farmers use USDA-certified organic ingredients in chocolate-and-cocoa treats. Try the Equal Exchange pocket-friendly boxed chocolate minis.
7. Evolved
Evolved brand containing 72% -100% cocoa is for true dark chocolate lovers. Chocolate bars, keto cups, butter and spreads, and custom bars are gluten-free, dairy-free, and soy-free. This fair-trade cacao brand uses organic maple sugar directly sourced from Canadian and Vermont-based maple producers. Additionally, the entire product range uses natural ingredients. Organic coconut sugar is used to sweeten Paleo chocolate. The brand’s mission statement “Chocolate: Its Food, Not Candy” summarizes its corporate philosophy.
Conclusion
In conclusion, if you have a passion for wellness, start consuming eco-friendly sustainable chocolates. Ethical chocolate brands focus on building a healthy relationship with farmers and laborers to give them their pride and boost their earnings. Shop online to buy these bundles of choco-joy. Finally and most importantly, they are good for you and the planet. Moreover, these will brighten the needy laborers’ income, wages and put an end to child labor in the chocolate industry.
