What Is Sustainable Chocolate?

Sustainable chocolate includes ethical and sustainable practices in producing it. This type of chocolate is produced with organically grown, sustainable cocoa beans, and with fair trade practices to avoid child or slave labour. In this blog post, you will discover what sustainable chocolate is, how it affects you, and how to find a brand that increases your health and your environment’s health! 

What is sustainable chocolate?

Sustainable chocolate means organic farming methods are used to produce sustainable cocoa beans. This method does not use pesticides or herbicides on the crops and keeps them healthy. Chemical fertilizers and child or slave labour are also avoided in this process.

What is the difference between sustainable and regular chocolate?

Sustainable chocolate ensures that everyone involved in making sustainable chocolate products is treated fairly and paid a fair wage for their work. Regular chocolate practices the opposite. 

Traditional cocoa beans come from plantations where most of the workers are typically paid poorly with little to no benefits or workplace protections. This leads to very poor living conditions and environmental concerns: deforestation and pollution.

The cocoa farms are also typically monopolized (owned by a single company) creating unfair exploitation, where most of the profits from chocolate production go to the particular company instead of to everyone involved in growing the beans. 

Where can I find sustainable chocolate?

Look for brands that have the ‘Rainforest Alliance’ label or ‘Fairtrade’ certification. You can also look for chocolate labelled ‘organic’. Organic farming is usually better than conventional growing because it does not use chemical pesticides.

How eating sustainable chocolate benefits you

The taste is one major benefit of eating sustainable chocolate over the regular types of chocolate on store shelves. It is also better for your health because antioxidants are retained, which fight off damaging free radicals in your body (free radicals speed up ageing, damage our cells, and cause a multitude of diseases in our bodies).  Sustainable chocolate not only benefits your body but the world around us, as well. The purpose of sustainable chocolate is to make a positive change in many areas of life.

Eating chocolate is an enjoyable indulgence, but if you want to feel good about what you are putting into your body and how you are affecting the environment with your purchase, then it is crucial to switch up your candy game. If child labour, fair wages for workers, and minimal environmental impact have an emotional effect on you, thoroughly check the packaging and labels before buying any kind of food or beverage claiming ‘sustainability’ on them.