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With dark chocolate recognised as being good for us (in moderation!), how can you choose the most ethical chocolate? Here we highlight seven ethical chocolate brands.
The chocolate industry is beset by child labour and poverty for cocoa farmers especially in West Africa (Côte D’Ivoire and Ghana) where most cocoa comes from. But there are a number of brands that are tackling these issues.
Our recommended ‘Super 7’ brands have a good cocoa sourcing policy, going beyond certifications like Fairtrade and Rainforest Alliance. Some of these brands make their chocolate in the country where the cocoa is grown, meaning that country gets a bigger cut of the final price of your bar of chocolate.
Additionally, our recommended ethical chocolate brands are either made by vegan companies or produce vegan varieties.
Vegan chocolate avoids the animal rights, animal welfare and carbon impacts associated with the dairy industry. For example, a litre of dairy milk uses 4 times as much land as a litre of plant milk and results in 3 times as much greenhouse gas emissions.
The Super 7 ethical chocolate brands
1. Pacari – vegan and organic company, chocolate made at origin in Ecuador – Pacari website
2. MonChoco – vegan and organic chocolate, locally-owned in Ivory Coast – MonChoco website
3. MIA – vegan company, chocolate made at origin in Madagascar – Mia website
4. Fairafric – organic chocolate made at origin in Ghana – Fairafric website
5. Chocolat Madagascar – chocolate made at origin in Madagascar – Chocolat Madagascar website
6. Vego – organic, Fairtrade, fully vegan chocolate brand – Vego website
7. Tony’s Chocolonely – this brand is campaigning to improve transparency and eradicate child labour in the big chocolate business, and pays higher than Fairtrade prices for its cocoa – Tony's Chocolonely website
All these 'Super 7' make bars of chocolate.
Where can you buy ethical vegan chocolate?
Most of these super ethical bars aren’t available in supermarkets. You might find them in wholefood and health food shops or you can buy directly from the companies online - their websites are listed above.
But Vego and Tony’s Chocolonely are more widely available:
- Vego is often sold in ethical stores, Holland & Barrett, and supermarkets.
- Tony’s is available from some Co-ops, Sainsbury’s, ASDAs, Morrisons and Tescos, as well as Oxfam* shops.
*Links to affiliate website
Price comparison of ethical chocolate
Some of these ethical chocolate bars are expensive because we are paying the real cost for a bar. Cheap bars often come at a high price to the farmer, workers and the environment.
Whilst some of these brands are expensive, for reasons outlined in our ethical guide to chocolate, some are not very expensive such as Tony's Chocolonely.
We compared prices for chocolate from our super 7 brands.
| Brand | Price per 100g |
|---|---|
| Tony’s | £1.67 |
| Fairafric | £3.13 |
| Vego | £3.33 |
| Chocolat Madagascar | £7.80 |
| MIA | £8.75 |
| Pacari ** | £10.30 |
| MonChoco | £11.14 |
** Subscribers to Ethical Consumer can get a discount for Pacari chocolate.
Find out more about ethical chocolate brands
Our super 7 feature in our shopping guide to chocolate where we look at all the issues including child labour, palm oil and deforestation, and cocoa certification.
- Chocolate guide
- A quick guide to fair trade and food
- The five best dairy free chocolate brands
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