Like with so many products, staring at the shelf of chocolate chips and baking bars can be overwhelming. What are the “right” labels to pay attention to: “Certified Compostable,” “Direct Trade” or “Fair Trade?” Does higher price mean better wages for the workers that produced it? Cacao is produced in humid regions near the equator — mainly Central and South America and West Africa. So unless you live in this region, the cocoa beans used to make your chocolate need to travel long distances. When choosing between different brands of chocolate, here’s what to pay attention to.

Why Does It Matter?

Chocolate is a $128 billion dollar industry, and the average American consumes about 12 pounds of chocolate every year. However, chocolate production is tied to both labor and human rights violations, as well as environmentally destructive practices. With such a huge market for chocolate products, choosing ethical and sustainably produced options can make a difference.

Labor issues — particularly child labor — are widespread in the cocoa industry. Forced labor for low wages and dangerous working conditions are commonplace. About 70% of the world’s cocoa comes from Ghana and the Ivory Coast (or Côte d’Ivoire), where over 2 million children are known to work illegally on cocoa plantations. Hershey, Mars and Nestlé — some of the best-known chocolate brands in the world — cannot guarantee that they produce their chocolate without child labor, and have consistently missed deadlines they’ve established to eradicate such labor from their supply chains.

Cocoa bean production has long been associated with deforestation and water use. Like lots of agricultural industries, cocoa production often entails cutting down forests for farmland. Ghana and the Ivory Coast in western Africa produce most of the world’s cocoa, and have lost the majority of their forest cover in the past 60 years, approximately a third of which is attributed directly to cocoa plantations. According to the National Wildlife Federation, tropical trees are being lost quickly in the places where cocoa is grown due to deforestation, which is directly linked to the loss of worldwide migratory songbird populations. Additionally, 21 liters of water are needed to produce one small chocolate bar.

The Problem With Labels

You might recognize some of those stamps on chocolate products, some of which are on other groceries like coffee, sugar or tea. These stamps — like Fairtrade Certified, Fair for Life, and Rainforest Alliance Certified Cocoa — indicate that the products have been certified and endorsed by specific organizations. Different organizations focus on different things when granting their certifications. Fairtrade, for example, focuses on poverty alleviation and labor standards, and UTZ and Rainforest Alliance focus largely on environmental protection.

“Fair trade” labels, however, aren’t a guarantee. Fairtrade International and Rainforest Alliance/UTZ Certifiers are among the most well-known certifications that consider labor practices, but they are only required to visit 10% of cocoa farms when determining whether a product is fit for their label. Sierra Magazine reports that Tony’s Chocolonely — a popular chocolate brand that is Fairtrade Certified — also states that their chocolate is “100% free from exploitation,” but admittedly found 1,700 cases of child labor in the production of their products.

So, while these labels might provide a good place to start when choosing chocolate products, they aren’t necessarily a guarantee of their practices and ethics.

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So, What Can Be Done?

Pay Attention to Packaging

The packaging of food products is often plastic, which either sits in landfills after disposal, or makes its way into oceans where it breaks down into microplastics. Some companies boast of their “compostable” packaging made of bioplastics. Because these often require special industrial composting facilities to be processed, bioplastics are sometimes sent to landfills anyway. In fact, these compostable products might even cause further environmental damage, as anything organic in landfills emits methane during its slow decomposition.

Choose products with minimal or paper packaging, especially those made out of recycled materials or that can be recycled. Some paper wrappers are compostable at home; just make sure to read the labels and confirm before purchasing. Ordering online also entails extra packaging and extra shipping processes that emit fossil fuels, so in-person purchasing is best.

Avoid Palm Oil

A lot of chocolate producers use palm oil in their products to improve texture and appearance. Unlike other oils, palm oil is solid when at room temperature, which makes it advantageous in chocolate. Deforestation and clear-cutting are commonplace in the formation of palm oil plantations. These processes remove important carbon sinks, and devastate landscapes and the species that live there, like Orangutans, pygmy elephants and Sumatran rhinos. Check the ingredients on chocolate products and choose those without palm oil.

Choose Organic

^{Chocolate bars from the Dagoba and Endangered Species brands. Tanke Çelik / Flickr}

While not a perfect standard, the USDA organic label is pretty stringent, and relates to the growing process of products. Organic cocoa beans are “shade grown,” which creates habitats for birds and contributes to a healthier, more diverse ecosystem. They’re also grown without synthetic pesticides and fertilizers, making them a more sustainable choice than conventional chocolate products.

Choose Brands That Have Been Vetted by Third Parties

Instead of only following certifications on chocolate products, choose those that are recommended by other environmental and human rights groups. Food Empowerment Project has a recommendations list of hundreds of brands that they confidently recommend, those with mixed results, and many that they do not recommend, even if they are stamped with certifications. They also have an app for referencing on the go. Other lists by Slave Free Chocolate, The Good Shopping Guide, Green America and Chocolate Scorecard also provide a good starting point.

^{Divine brand chocolate bars. Brett Jordan / CC BY 2.0}

Regarding specific brands, the National Wildlife Federation recommends Endangered Species Chocolate, Equal Exchange and Divine Chocolate. The Sierra Club recommends The Good Chocolate’s (TGC) large bars, which are organic and contain no palm oil or plastic, and can be shipped without excess packaging, as well as Sjaaks and Equal Exchange’s Organic Dark Chocolate Minis. Remember too that higher prices don’t necessarily mean better practices or wages for the farmers who produce it.

Research a Company Yourself

Look at the FAQs for a company, and see if they mention how their chocolate is sourced — or contact them directly with your questions. See if they have sustainability goals, or an impact report that you can reference.

Another good tactic is to look into whether vendors have direct relationships with their farmers, and know exactly where their ingredients come from. This is sometimes called a “bean-to-bar” product, or you might see a package stamped with the term “direct trade,” which isn’t a certification, but simply means that the producer of the beans has a relationship with the buyer, and the ingredients within the chocolate are traceable. Beyond Good is one such company, which makes single-origin chocolate bars with cocoa produced in Madagascar.

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