Major Chocolate Brands Using Child & Slave Labour In Chocolate Production
Cadbury’s use of child labour and slave labour when making chocolates
Tonight, the UK’s Dispatches programme on Channel 4 investigates one of Britain’s biggest chocolate brands – Cadbury – and reveals that its supply chain relies on child labour.
At PLAYin CHOC, we’ve known for a long time that, shockingly, most chocolate companies use slave and child labour to farm their cacao. Research carried out during the 2018-19 growing season in Ivory Coast and Ghana showed that 1.48 million children were engaged in hazardous work on cacao farms*.
We’re sure you’ll agree that this is not acceptable; it can’t be right to risk a child’s life purely for a hit of chocolate. Some children are as young as just 5 years old.
The horrible truth about chocolate production
Last year our team attended a live chat with Quota.media where they discussed, in-depth, the current situation on the Ivory Coast, and the hard truths about cacao production - which left us feeling sick to the stomach (not the feeling you want to get when you think of chocolate).
These innocent, poor children are promised their dream career, when in fact they are smuggled over the border into the Ivory Coast and forced to work long hard days on the plantations. These children are not given the education, money and life they are promised. If they rebel, they get beaten.
We cannot understand how in 2022, this is still going on. With lawsuits dropped, and governments turning a blind eye, it is now up to the consumer to help slow production by shopping more responsibly.
Creating ethical chocolate without slave labour or child labour
Here at PLAYin CHOC, we have always been crystal clear; our supply chain is 100% ethical and transparent. We have never used and will never use child, slave or animal labour.
Our specially sourced Peruvian criollo beans are grown on small, family-owned farms where the farmers receive a decent salary, and the cacao is fairly traded. We also use the finest Criollo beans, which were once called the ‘queen of beans’ by ancient Mayans as they were regarded as the food of the gods. They ensure a high-quality, aromatic, luxurious chocolate.
In addition, all our chocolate is UK-made and certified organic by Soil Association. It’s created from only three plants – cacao beans, Madagascan bourbon vanilla and coconut – and packaged in home compostable, recycled and recycled packaging. We like to think the incredible taste of PLAYin CHOC chocolate is all the sweeter for its fair treatment of workers and our ethical stance.
What do you think about chocolate production?
We’d love to know your thoughts too on chocolate production. Email us at customerhappiness@playinchoc.com
*https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/our-work/child-forced-labor-trafficking/child-labor-cocoa
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