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With Easter just a few days away, chocolate fans around the world will eagerly fill their cupboards with sweet treats.
But how green is your favorite Easter egg?
Experts have slammed nearly 30 percent of the world’s largest cocoa buyers amid claims they need to “catch up” in the face of serious problems.
While creme, mini and chocolate button eggs are often a popular choice around this time of year, Cadbury owners were among those called out for a lack of transparency.
In addition to Walmart, a ‘Rotten Egg Award’ was also presented General Mills – the big name behind Häagen-Dazs and Betty Crocker – for their “lack of government policy and commitment to their cocoa sourcing.”
Scientists have ranked 43 companies responsible for 90 percent of the world’s cocoa (many available in the UK are listed above), alongside 29 retailers
Experts said 19 of the companies need to ‘catch up’ in one or more areas, berating the owner of Cadbury’s and Toblerone for lack of transparency
The Chocolate Scoreboardby Australian campaign group Be Slavery Free, has ranked 72 brands and retailers who buy about 95 percent of the world’s cocoa.
Dr. Julian Oram, Senior Director, Africa, at Mighty Earth, who worked on the report, said: ‘Companies have information that can shed light on this “dark” chocolate origin.
“Some of the biggest brands, including Starbucks, Lindt, Godiva and Kellog’s, score poorly on tackling deforestation and climate.
“We know they can do better and will encourage them to do so. Others such as Mondelez, Unilever and Tesco have been silent this year and refused to participate, which begs the question: what are they hiding?’
The research comes as 40 percent of the world’s cocoa remains untraceable and beans from deforested areas are still coming onto the market.
Therefore, logging, climate and farming techniques were factors considered by scorers.
Forced/child labour, transparency and living income were also included in the ranking.
Andrew Wallis OBE, CEO of anti-slavery charity Unseen, said: ‘Child labor and modern slavery are part of the cocoa industry and present in the chocolate we buy.
“This year’s Scorecard shows that of the 56 participating companies, only nine achieved the highest score for addressing child and forced labor in their supply chains.”
Of the supermarkets rated by the Chocolate Scoreboard, Aldi was seen as one of the more sustainable retailers, developing programs to address living income and agroforestry
Tony’s Chocolonely and Original Beans received the ‘Good Egg’ award for their approach to the chocolate industry
While 91 percent of the major chocolate brands said ‘no’ to deforestation, not everyone did.
Lindt and Hershey were said to be “doing something,” but nothing groundbreaking to address the chocolate industry’s problems.
Both Kellog’s and US-based Walgreens also came under fire for having the worst score in each category of ‘no noteworthy initiatives’.
Mr Wallis OBE added: ‘We hope consumers use this information to buy ethical chocolate free from human rights violations.’
Despite these results, Kellog claims it does ‘committed’ to being ‘environmentally, socially and economically responsible’ when sourcing cocoa and other ingredients.
A Kellog spokesperson said, “As we work towards our goal of achieving 100 percent responsibly sourced cocoa, we continue to expand and develop our program, working with third parties, our suppliers and collaborating industry associations to incorporate best practices and guidelines. . We report our progress on our Kellogg’s Better Days website.”
Owner of M&M’s, Snickers and Twix was an industry leader in deforestation
Experts were also left asking ‘what are they hiding?’ after more than 20 percent of companies did not answer or complete the survey.
They included Cadbury owners Mondelēz and Unilever, despite previously participating in the Chocolate Scoreboard.
Be Slavery Free said: ‘After the distribution of the survey, five companies, namely FrieslandCampina, General Mills, Krüger Group, Unilever and Mondelēz, chose not to participate.
“This is the second year General Mills has not competed. Unilever and Mondelēz have previously participated. This is the first year that the Krüger Group chose not to participate.
“We view their non-participation as a lack of transparency. We believe that all companies selling chocolate products should be able to provide the information requested in the survey.”
Against these accusations, Unilever stated that it is transparent, with 99 percent of its cocoa coming from known ‘certification schemes’.
A spokesperson said: “While this is great progress, we are committed to moving forward by working with others to address the endemic issues associated with the cocoa industry.”
Walmart has been crowned the winner of the ‘Rotten Egg Award’ alongside General Mills – the big name behind Häagen-Dazs and Betty Crocker (pictured left). Sainsbury’s (right) and Waitrose would ‘do something more than certification’, while M&S and Costco would rely solely on certification
On the other hand, both Tony’s Chocolonely and Original Beans were awarded the ‘Good Egg’ award for leading the industry with sustainable change.
Another top scorer was Ben & Jerry’s, while Nestlé and Mars Wrigley – owners of chocolates such as M&M’s – received high praise for their improvement on last year.
Despite earning an “orange” score, researchers praised Starbucks for its willingness to be transparent and embark on its sustainability journey.
Among supermarkets, Aldi was also seen as one of the top ranked retailers compared to Lidl, Sainsbury’s and Waitrose, which were said to be ‘doing something’ but nothing leading in the industry.
Researchers added: “Consumers and investors have a right to be informed about the conditions under which chocolate is produced.”
MailOnline has approached a number of organizations for comment.
A Mondelēz spokesperson has since commented: “At Mondelēz International, we focus where we can have the greatest positive impact.
“Cocoa Life is our signature sustainable cocoa sourcing program, in which we invest and collaborate with partners in cocoa-producing countries to address the interconnected challenges faced by cocoa farmers and their communities, help make a measurable impact and increase the sourcing of cocoa more sustainable.
“Our focus is on the next chapter of Cocoa Life, so in 2022 we announced our investment of an additional $600 million through 2030 for a total investment of $1 billion since the program started in 2012 with the goal of expanding our program to work with ~300,000 cocoa farmers in 2030.’