Six months ago, I went on a chocolate boycott to protest the use of slave child labor to produce cocoa in Africa. I refused to give my money to any company, foreign or domestic, who profited by it, and since none of the major US producers were unwilling to label the origins of their product so that I could make an informed choice, I stopped buying any of it that was not labeled Fair Trade or Organic. (Organic chocolate is grown in Central and South America, not Africa.)
Hershey’s sidesteps the issue of human rights in their supply chain, but has come out with something that may allow me to enjoy chocolate again. They’ve begun a line called Cacao Reserve, a series of single origins chocolate products. Best of all, that country of origin is listed in big type on the label, and none of those is Ivory Coast. The products are promoted as gourmet, but for those of us boycotting on principle, it gives us information we’ve been wanting for a long time.
This isn’t certified fair trade, so there may still be exploitation going on along the supply chain. But at least I know that children weren’t chained and beaten to produce it. That’s a step in the right direction. Perhaps if this product does well enough, other companies will decide that origin labeling is in their own best interests, since they can charge a 50% premium for it.
Chocolate won’t become a regular part of my diet again until Fair Trade is the rule, not the exception. But should I have a moment of weakness, I could almost live with this.
