Ethics and the chocolate business

What is corporate social responsibility?

White, milk and dark chocolate squares in a piles

‘Corporate responsibility encompasses not only what companies do with their profits but also how they make them.’ Harvard Kennedy School³

Making chocolate involves processing cocoa, milk and sugar. Social and environmental issues arise from supplying chocolate.

Child and cheap labour

African boy sorting beans

Read about child labour⁶ and slavery⁷ which are prevalent on cocoa farms in Ivory Coast.⁸ Watch a video about child labour⁹ in chocolate production.

Read about enslaved children¹⁰ in Ghana and Ivory coast. Reflect on trafficked child labour¹¹ for cocoa farming.

Environmental degradation

Cocoa pods

Find out about the Earthwatch¹⁴ project studying the impacts of cocoa farming on biodiversity. Read about sugar cane farming¹⁵ leading to soil erosion and degredation.¹⁶

Satelite image view of the Barrier Reef

Find out about soil erosion and eutrophication and algal blooms¹⁹ resulting from dairy farming and deforestation²⁰ in New Zealand.

palm oil plantation

Scan palm oil quick facts²² and see how palm oil cultivation can impact on people, the environment and endangered species such as the orang-utan.²³

Actions

Learn about and how organisations have endorsed a commitment to ethical sourcing²⁴. Find out about ethical consumerism²⁵ and the Rainforest Alliance²⁶ which conserves global forests. Read about the International Cocoa Initiative²⁷ and the World Cocoa Foundation²⁸ which promote initiatives to grow cocoa trees while maintaining biodiversity.

Visit Canegrowers²⁹ to take virtual bus tours on topic such as environmental stewardship and irrigation efficiency.

What can I do?

Find out about Fair trade chocolate³⁰.

Make the choice to demand ethical chocolate³¹.

Take part in the Don't Trade Lives campaign³².