The 10 most planet-friendly chocolate brands
With Easter on the horizon, chocolate may be on your mind too. But the sweet stuff isn’t always compatible with sustainable living. What’s the best way to indulge without compromising on taste – or your principles?
Did you know that chocolate may be one of the most problematic foods on the planet? The WWF says cocoa farming is a major cause of global deforestation: 70% of illegal deforestation on the Ivory Coast, one of the world’s largest producers, is due to cocoa plantations. Many cocoa farmers in West Africa also rely on slave and/or child labour.
The good news is that satisfying your sweet tooth no longer has to mean sidelining your ethics. A number of brands are now delivering great tasting chocolate that’s good for the planet and the people producing it. Check out our round-up of the 10 best ethical chocolate brands below.
1. Tony's Chocolonely
This Dutch brand was founded on the idea of making ‘100% slave-free’ chocolate. They work direct with cocoa growers in Ghana and the Ivory Coast, and pay them a premium on top of the Fairtrade price. Tony’s also invest in agricultural knowledge, so their farmers learn about more environmentally friendly production methods.
Their brightly coloured wrappers are made from uncoated, recycled (and recyclable) FSC-certified paper, while any foil contains as much recycled material as possible. The chocolate inside is also delicious – yes, we’re looking at you, milk chocolate pretzel toffee bar (though all the flavours are excellent) – it's split into uneven sections to represent the unfair division of cocoa profits.
2. Montezuma's
Montezuma’s was founded in 2000 after founders Helen and Simon went travelling across South America and camped on a cocoa plantation. The pair started at their kitchen sink but as their business grew, their values stayed the same. Montezuma’s only buy slave-free cocoa from sustainable sources and those free from deforestation, while growers are always paid ‘enough money to survive and thrive’.
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You won’t find any palm oil in their products, but you might find unusual ingredients like chilli or peppercorns which elevate them above standard chocolate. They also have a dairy-free range – Like No Udder – and vegan choices. All packaging is recyclable, compostable or biodegradable, and everything tastes great too.
3. Divine Chocolate
You’ve probably seen Divine chocolate bars everywhere, from your local corner shop to the petrol station. The brand was one of the first ethical chocolate brands set up in the UK, and is co-owned by a British company and Kuapa Kokoo, a Ghanaian cocoa farmers’ cooperative who receive a 45% share of the profits.
Divine chocolates are certified Fairtrade and organic, and they don’t transport any of their products by air freight. The company is also a B Corp and they support local women’s empowerment initiatives in farming. It’s a wonder they’ve got time to make their famously smooth and creamy chocolate with all that going on…
4. Willie's Cacao
You may remember Willie Harcourt-Cooze’s adventures in cacao from the Channel 4 documentary Willie’s Wonky Chocolate Factory. But his chocolate is far from a gimmick; the beans are all heirloom varieties which need less fertiliser and pesticides, and come from single-estate cacaos – like quality vineyards for fine wine.
Willie’s Cacao is not Fairtrade but instead he trades directly with cocoa farmers, always paying them a premium price. When that cocoa is blended with rich Devon cream, natural cocoa butter and raw cane sugar, it creates one of the best milk chocolate bars we’ve ever tasted. Or try the 100% cacao range Willie is known for.
5. Seed and Bean
The ‘punk’ producers of ethical chocolate, Seed and Bean believe in using 100% organic ingredients, buying from small-scale suppliers and being brave with flavours – sea salt and lime, lemon and cardamom, or lavender anyone? All their wrappers are fully compostable too: even the foil is made from eucalyptus pulp.
Even better, 16 of the 18 bars they produce are Fairtrade-certified and most are suitable for vegan chocolate-lovers. Seed and Bean also focus on producing small batches of just 45 litres (industrial manufacturers tend to make 20-50,000 litres per batch) so they can focus on quality not quantity.
6. Doisy & Dam
Doisy & Dam are a registered B Corp and source the majority of their cocoa from Luker Chocolate in Columbia – a research facility learning how to produce the best cocoa possible, then training farmers. Many of Luker’s cocoa farms were previously used to grow drugs but now their farmers get a safe and secure monthly wage.
With a slogan like “dark chocolate, but fun” you can expect great tasting products, including bars, nutter cups and truffles, in bright and mostly recyclable wrapping. All Doisy & Dam chocolate is vegan, plus the International Cocoa Organization (ICCO) has classified their chocolate in the top 8% of the world’s finest.
7. Chocolate and Love
A chocolate brand founded on a love story – it’s Valentine’s Day every day for Chocolate and Love. This family business makes ethical, 100% organic, Fairtrade and award-winning chocolate in Sweden. They keep things small-scale with their suppliers too, buying cacao direct from family-run cooperatives in Panama, Peru, Madagascar and the Dominican Republic.
Not only are their wrappers FSC-certified – while the inner wrapping is fully compostable at home – Chocolate and Love support reforestation projects, planting more than 28,000 trees in Ethiopia and Tanzania to date. Share a box of their delectable mini bars with a loved one to find out what the buzz is about.
8. Raw Chocolate Company
Don’t worry – you won’t be handed a cocoa pod and expected to make your own chocolate. The ‘raw’ in Raw Chocolate Company here means their cacao is sun-dried rather than heat treated. All products are free from palm oil and refined sugar too, so they’re ‘raw’ compared with most conventional chocolate brands.
All their ingredients are organic, and ground three times longer than normal to guarantee a smooth and melty experience. The entire range including buttons, bars, truffles and hot chocolate is vegan too. Room for one more fact? RCC also supports tree-planting projects in Peru. Truly, chocolate that tastes good and does good.
9. Booja-Booja
When Booja-Booja started in Norfolk in 1999, the idea of producing organic, vegan chocolate was almost laughable. Luckily, their famous truffles proved everyone wrong and they’re still making the award-winning treats today. The whole range is vegan, palm oil-, gluten-, soy- and dairy-free – even the champagne in their truffles comes from an organic vineyard in France.
Although Booja-Booja doesn’t use Fairtrade cocoa (because they cannot guarantee it will all be organic), they are committed to trading fairly and ethically with their long-standing suppliers in the Dominican Republic and Ecuador. And nearly all their packaging is recyclable, so you can put those empty truffle trays to good use...
10. Paccari
Paccari might be the best ethical chocolate brand you’ve never heard of. This Ecuadorian family-owned company produces ‘tree-to-bar’ chocolate; it’s made in the same place where the cacao is grown, keeping 50% of the profits in the country. Paccari also pays a premium over Fairtrade prices, supporting 4,000 families in Ecuador.
Their range is 100% organic, biodynamic, vegan, and soy- and palm oil-free. And for every chocolate bar sold in their online shop, they’ll plant a tree for sustainability. Paccari does cost a bit more than other brands, but where else can you discover the different flavours of single-region bars or indulge in raw ceremonial cacao paste?!
