The list is made up of several categories:

Chocolate we feel comfortable recommending

These companies are transparent about the country of origin for the cocoa* beans in their vegan chocolate, and the vast majority of these companies use beans that were not sourced from areas where the worst forms of child labor and slavery are most prevalent.

However, if they are sourcing from Western Africa, the workers must own the companies/be in charge of the profits from their labor. You can learn more about why we had to come to this decision in this post from 2018.

If the company is sourcing from Brazil, the workers must own the company and/or be in charge of the profits from their labor, or the company must be going above and beyond to support the workers and their families. Since child labor and slavery only recently have been documented in cocoa in Brazil (as opposed to in Western Africa, where it has been widespread for decades), we are giving Brazilian companies that are trying to address the issue by supporting the workers and their families the benefit of the doubt.

You will notice some companies with a line crossed through their name; we try to provide information as to why we have done this.

Mixed

Includes companies that make some vegan chocolate we recommend and some we do not based on the country of origin of the cocoa beans. It will be important to look at the list of products under this category to be sure you are purchasing the ones we recommend.

Cannot recommend

These are companies offering vegan chocolates that we know have been implicated in using cocoa sourced from farms located in areas where the worst forms of child labor and slavery are most prevalent. They are companies that have played a role in why the problem exists on such a large scale or that have otherwise demonstrated they are not interested in addressing the issues.

Cannot recommend even with certifications or initiatives

These companies offer vegan chocolate products and responded to us but are currently buying cocoa in areas where slavery and child labor are the most prevalent. They have told us about a certification they have, that the company they buy from has a “policy” against sourcing from child labor and slavery, or that they are involved in an initiative surrounding these issues.

If they are selling certified chocolate, then why aren’t they listed on our recommended list? It is unfortunate, but all certifications have been found to have problems. The worst forms of child labor and slavery have even been found on cocoa farms with certifications.

There is little evidence that anyone makes sure any “certified” farms comply with standards: in one case, a requirement for clean bathrooms was checked off on an evaluation checklist even though none of the farms even had bathrooms.

There has also been almost no documentation of initiatives having any large-scale impact on ending child labor and slavery in the industry. The goals of these industry-led initiatives are often vague and involve a small percentage of farmers.

If the companies have initiatives such as working with cocoa farmer cooperatives, then why aren’t they listed on our recommended list? If the cooperatives were completely owned by the workers it would be one thing, but the cooperatives that currently exist in Western Africa rarely are and have been found to have problems.

We acknowledge the issues with certifications and initiatives might change, but for now, this is how they rank on our list.

We provide these companies with information about the problems with certifications and offer to send them our wholesale recommended list. If they do not want to change their sourcing they remain on this section of the list.

Companies that are working with us to change suppliers are not listed during the transition process.

Cannot recommend but at least responded

These are companies offering vegan chocolate that told us they source their cocoa from either Western Africa or Brazil. We appreciate their transparency, but they don’t make our list as they source from areas where the worst forms of child labor, including slavery, are the most prevalent.

Cannot recommend: companies that would not disclose their supplier (no transparency for customers)

Not disclosing where their vegan chocolate is sourced from is really no different than those companies that did not respond at all. We do not ask for supplier contacts or any other proprietary information; we simply ask from which country they get their cocoa beans. Wanting to hide the information is an insult to consumers who care about this issue and an insult to the seriousness of the issue.

Cannot recommend: companies that did not respond

As simple as that. They did not respond to our multiple requests. We encourage consumers to contact their favorite company if they see them listed here.

Why do some companies have a line crossed through them?

Although a company might meet our criteria listed above, there might be other reasons that F.E.P. doesn’t feel comfortable recommending them due to egregious issues with the company, such as violations with worker rights. We want to be as transparent as possible, letting consumers know the chocolate meets our criteria, but if you care about other issues as well, we also provide a link with more details so you can decide for yourself if you want to purchase their products or not.