Whenever something is a “luxury” or avoidable purchase I think we can all take extra care on how we source it. To me, Easter, or any chocolate, is usually one that if we can’t do better on we can just go without, so if we can’t to indulge I feel we should take the time to know our impact and make a better choice.
The UK’s chocolate market was estimated to be worth a whopping £395 million in 2020 and in the USA around a full $2.4 billion will go into buying candy and chocolate (fast company, 2019).
Yet only 5% of the world’s chocolate consumption is from fair trade chocolate. There are various different certifications for chocolate and I think a vague but safe rule of thumb is that if a company isn’t really shouting about what they’re doing to make a change, they’re not doing anything.
Holidays are also responsible for huge amounts of extra waste, which shouldn’t be a part of our celebration of new life, spring, hope, and whatever Easter means to each person. Hurting the world, and therefore people, to celebrate life seems backwards, yet very normal. We should be able to, and really can, do both.
So let’s make sure our part goes in the right place. If it’s going to cost a little more to buy better, let’s buy a little less. Each purchase is small but that’s a massive industry we can be a part of shifting in the right direction.
This is a great question, the fair-trade symbol isn’t the only way but I do look for a certification external to the company not something in house just so there’s external regulation. When chocolate is certified fair-trade it means the farmers are guaranteed a fair-trade minimum price plus a fair-trade premium. Some say fair trade isn’t enough, I agree. Yet many things that are a part of the journey to doing better are not the full picture, but are an important part of the process along the way and a great starting point. Saying fairtrade isn’t enough, doesn’t mean we should throw caution to the wind on what we buy but more start with fairly traded, and also look for even more.
Personally I prefer organic both for health but also for those working on the cocoa farms and for the environment, I like to see companies really investing beyond what they have to do to empower farmers, even better empowering women, to see companies working to change agriculture and to see the industry be different! Our purchasing and support of companies has so much power and I LOVE that in a small purchase decision we get to be part of change.
Tony’s are Fairtrade and B Corporation certified and pay a premium to the farmers above the Fairtrade premium. They’re also committed not just to being a better option but advocating and bringing change to the industry across the board.
Their eggs are a mix of different flavours, solid chocolate each wrapped in foil in a paper egg carton and really good for an Easter egg hunt for that reason! They’re not the best on the allergen front, they don’t have peanuts but they do have pretty much every other allergen.
ABOUT DIVINE: Divine is co owned by the cocoa farmers which I love. As a certified fairtrade and B corporation company there is a minimum price per ton that they always pay which protects the farmers from drops in the market. They’re also committed to empowering women in their coops and more than 1/3 of the farmers are women.
Their large chocolate eggs are plastic free but their small mini eggs are wrapped in a non recyclable plastic bag so we go for the large eggs from Divine and they’re my top choice for large eggs.
Shop them HERE in the UK or HERE via Amazon if you’re last minute
Montezumas is a fantastic nationally available brand we get to have local to us in Brighton! Pushing for all the things I care about. Fairtrade cocoa.
What looks like plastic windows and bags are not, they’re all home compostable and I love that. The small eggs are not individually wrapped which is great for waste and makes them less good for hiding for hunting, but great for eating. They also have a zero sugar range which I adore.
Shop them online HERE in the UK only!
Another nationally available brand we get locally! These guys are round the corner from us in a barn making some of the prettiest organic, Fairtrade, and plastic free packaging chocolate I’ve found and we love them. They always have creative ranges for kids and stunning eggs for grown ups or sharing.
Certified Fairtrade and Organic with Compostable packaging.
Shop HERE via Ethical Superstore (or HERE via Abel and Cole and get a free veggie box if you’re new too)
Like Cocoa Loco, these are both certified Fairtrade and Organic. These are available in most hughstreet supermarkets which makes them easy to get your hands on and a plastic free, fairtrade and organic option. The dark one is made without milk but the others are not vegan.
Shop them online HERE in the UK!
Moo Free markets themselves mostly as allergy friendly and are gluten free, diary free and vegan. They impressed me when I found their Advent Calendar which was made from recycled plastic and paper and that is SO hard to find! They’re back with the same things in their Easter eggs, recycled plastic chocolate that’s Rainforest Alliance/UTZ certified cocoa and allergy friendly eggs.
The Co-op Supermarket is taking great strides across all their products to reduce plastic and they made a commitment to have every chocolate they sell be Fairtrade. This year they have a selection of certified fair-trade, plastic free Easter eggs. I think their large eggs leave a little to be desired but I love these ones for an Easter egg hunt option!
A beautiful London based, female founded, black owned chocolate company making low waste, fairly traded chocolates. Everything is sweetened with unrefined coconut sugar and lucuma fruit. I chose to get her easter bunnies, but she as eggs too (although there is plastic around them.) The bars are stunning and plastic free too.
This is marketing rather than true eggs but Alter Eco are such a great option in terms of sourcing and mission that I’ll let them rebrand chocolate balls as Easter offering! They’re really a company that go beyond the baseline of Fair-trade to invest in farmers and regenerative farming which is something I REALLY think is critical. Their truffle wrappers are home compostable and their chocolate is organic and carbon neutral which are all great addition points.
Shop chocolate “eggs” HERE in the US
The US doesn’t seem quite as good as the UK on the whole at plastic free and fairtrade options especially in terms of nationally available options. So I’m including Lake Champlain as an option that’s a B Corp, with organic, fairtrade chocolate and some less packaged options that are widely available.
Shop Lake Champlain chocolates HERE in the US
I hope that helps you as you shop, remember you can spend a little less to put a little more into each egg and it’s a great investment in caring for people you may never meet but who deserve to be treated well in our luxuries!
Coffee and Tea Brands we love and buy
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