Are you planning to hand out chocolate this Halloween? Did you know that some well-known chocolate brands purchase their chocolate from farms and plantations that use child labor or slave labor? And some other brands choose to look the other way or don’t track their ingredient sourcing carefully. Buying “fair trade” chocolate is a good way to support growers who are not using child or slave labor on their plantations. Please look for the Fair Trade mark on the labels of chocolate (and coffee and tea) to support companies that are compensating growers fairly.
The UUCPA Action Council will not be selling fair trade chocolate this year, but you can buy your own to share for trick-or-treating. To make it easier, we have done some of the research for you, albeit, a little behind schedule.
Please review the updated chocolate “score card,” which rates and compares chocolate brands on a host of issues such as traceability, child and forced labor, living wages, deforestation, and agricultural chemical management:
https://www.chocolatescorecard.com/scorecards
The good news is that many large companies have improved their practices over prior years due to consumer attention and pressure. You can now find some of these top-rated brands at your local Costco, Safeway, and Target stores. Not all companies sell chocolate in packages that are convenient for Halloween. We have collected links to several online stores where you can order individually wrapped Fair Trade chocolates, along with the approximate unit price per piece (before shipping and taxes, which may be waived depending on order size and locations). Chocolate prices are much higher than last year due to cacao shortages, but the products below are some of the less expensive fair-trade options we found.
Equal Exchange: Unit price is $0.29 per piece. We have sold these at UUCPA in some past years.
Divine milk and dark chocolate minis: Unit price is $0.30 per piece. These are temporarily out of stock, but more are expected soon, so please check back.
https://shop.
Ocho: Unit price is $0.51 to $0.69 per piece, depending on variety. Unfortunately, it looks like the online ordering site is under construction, so they are not available online at this moment, but we have seen these at Target before, sometimes with better pricing.
Unreal Dark Chocolate Minis: Unit price is $0.45 online at Costco Online website (for members).https://www.costco.
but some varieties were recently on sale (in-store) at Costo for a unit prices as low as $0.29 each.
Tony ChocoLoney: Unit price is $0.43 per piece.
https://us.tonyschocolonely.
Beyond Good: Unit price is $0.76 per piece for pure dark single origin chocolate minis.
https://beyondgood.com/
Alter Eco: Unit price is $0.91 per piece:
https://www.alterecofoods.com/
Ritter Sport: This German company has moved up the rankings on the scorecard, and while not carrying the Fair Trade certification, it receives high scores from other certification agencies. An affordable option for the mini size chocolates can be found at Amazon for $0.53 per piece.
https://www.amazon.com/RITTER-
And lastly, the Natural Candy Store sells many natural brands, including some Fair Trade chocolate. This may be a useful site to browse and find out about some unique candy products:
https://www.naturalcandystore.
Of course, you can always give out something other than candy! However, if you choose to give chocolate or indulge yourself with some, the Action Council urges you to purchase Fair Trade chocolate to support fair wages and avoid rewarding the abusive labor practices which are still common in the industry.
Thank you,
Action Council members Kristi Iverson (chair), Sally Ahnger, Edie Keating, Karen Skold, Sean Hansen, and Chris Cassell