Did I Hear You Say Guilt Free Chocolate?

Let me introduce you to the idea of guilt free chocolate, and no, I’m not talking about calorie free chocolate. I am talking about removing the carbon footprint of most chocolate currently available. 

Fairtrade/Rainforest Alliance

When consuming items such as chocolate, or coffee, we tend to gravitate towards products that are labelled with terms such as “fair trade” or “rainforest alliance”. This is because these labels refer to helping producers/farmers in developing countries achieve reliable and equitable trade relationships. It also helps to promote environmentally sustainable and socially just practises in the farming and forest industries. Around only 12% of UK sales accounts for Fairtrade chocolate, which is a great start, but it is not enough. [1] In 2022, 2.12 million metric tons of cocoa were Rainforest Alliance Certified, which is a huge number, given that the global cocoa production is expected to reach over 5 million tons in the 2022/2023 crop year. [2] If everyone bought products such as chocolate that are fairtrade and/or rainforest alliance certified we could make a huge difference. 

Below I have named just a handful of the companies that are rainforest alliance/fair trade: [3] 

• Nestle
• Monty Bojangles
• Cornetto 
• Galaxy
• Haoma
• Hershey’s

It is important for existing and new companies to be mindful about where and who they source their products from and their impact on the environment. As people are educating themselves more about the environment and climate change and the impacts that our actions have, people are turning to options that will have a positive impact, including only buying from companies that are making a conscious effort to improve the way they do things. 

Figure 1: Bars of chocolate. [4]

Beyond Good

Beyond Good is a company wanting to make a big difference. They were founded in 2007, making chocolate in Madagascar and their mission is to change the way that the world experiences chocolate and vanilla. They have not only cut out the middleman, so that the profit can go directly to the farmers who grow it, they also preserve the taste, protect the farmers, and protect areas the cocoa grows in, including making the chocolate where it grows. [5]

Other notable factors of Beyond Good include:

• They made 2.8 million chocolate bars in Madagascar last year.
• 5 Endangered species of Lemur live safely within their supply chain.
• 330 total hectares are under exclusive organic cultivation.
• 93 direct farmer relationships.
• 105 full time Malagasy employees work at their factory in Antananarivo, Madagascar.
• 235,445kgs of cocoa purchased from these farmers. 
• They are expanding into vanilla production and opening a second factory in Uganda. 

Why is This so Important?

Products we consume large quantities of, such as chocolate, coffee, vanilla, oils and spices are grown in large forests that contain thousands of ecosystems, endangered species and plants not found in other parts of the world. Forest and Rainforests play a massive role in our planet:

• They help to combat climate change due to their huge capacity to remove carbon from the atmosphere.
• They are home to more than half of the world’s land-based species of animals, plants and insects. 
• They play an important role in the global water cycle by moving water across the earth by releasing water vapour and capturing rainfall.
• They can also help prevent erosion and can enrich and conserve soil.

We all need to be making conscious efforts, whether as a company, or as individuals, to improve our decisions that impact the climate and the environment. 

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References

[1] 10 facts about Fairtrade chocolate – Fairtrade Foundation

[2] Cocoa industry – statistics & facts | Statista

[3] Find the Frog | Rainforest Alliance (rainforest-alliance.org)

[4] Alleksana (April 2020). Close-up shot of assorted chocolate bars, from Pexels.com. Last accessed on 3rd August 2023. Available at: https://www.pexels.com/photo/close-up-shot-of-assorted-chocolate-bars-on-a-white-surface-4113363/ 

[5] Our Difference – Beyond Good