For some consumers, Fair Trade chocolate a bit sweeter

After reports of labor abuses by major chocolate corporations recently surfaced, smaller businesses and some consumers are moving to purchase chocolate that meets Fair Trade standards for worker treatment and wages.

Unlike industry giants Mars, Hershey and Nestle — accused of using child labor to collect cocoa beans in Africa’s Ivory Coast — smaller companies like Taza Chocolate, Yachana Gourmet and Equal Exchange promote using fair trade practices to harvest their beans, reject child labor, pay fair wages and provide a sustainable income for cocoa farmers.

Fair Trade-certified chocolate began with Alternative Trade Organizations that eliminated middlemen so they could deal directly with indigenous farmers. Democratically run farmer co-ops produce fair trade chocolate in Latin America, Africa and Asia.

TransFair USA, a third-party nonprofit Fair Trade certifier, regulates working conditions for chocolate companies that want to guarantee their chocolate is harvested under ethical conditions. The organization marks the chocolate that pass the test with a “Fair Trade Certified” stamp.

Without the Fair Trade label, it is hard to tell where cocoa is from and under what conditions it was harvested, Democracy Center Director Cecilia Duran said.

“We do know if it is coming from the Ivory Coast it is produced with child labor,” she said. “Many of these children may have been taken from their homes and aren’t paid well or at all for their services.”

TransFair USA spokesman Anthony Marek said researching food is just like looking into using any other service.

“We take time to research a mechanic or hairdresser and yet we walk into a grocery store and put food into our bodies without knowing where it is coming from or how it is made,” he said.

“We have rigorous third-party inspection by our base in Bond, Germany, and [the Fair Trade Commission] is the only label that guarantees these standards have been met,” Marek said.

Companies the FTC supports continue to find success in the market in light of alleged unethical practices of large corporation counterparts, Marek said, adding he expects the trend to continue.

“We feel these large companies are not working in their best interest, because eventually the quality their cocoa beans won’t be around anymore if small farms in the Domincan Republic and Costa Rica are eventually put out of business,” he said. “It’s not a good long-term strategy.”

Nestle has maintained it has not been involved in unethical dealings.

“Nestle is a strong supporter of a global, industry-wide effort to promote sustainable cocoa farming and responsible labor practices on cocoa farms,” said Nestle spokeswoman Laurie McDonald. “We are working in partnership with host country governments, NGOs, donor organizations and farmer groups, and making a real, positive difference in the lives of cocoa farming families and their communities.”

Some other chocolate producing companies that do not bear the FTC stamp have decided to offer their customers a better product through their own independent regulation, said Taza Chocolate co-founder Larry Slotnick.

“We fund cocoa bean cooperatives ourselves and travel there to be sure they are treating workers right and are using organic products,” Slotnick said. “Because the farmers don’t have to choose between investing in their cocoa beans and feeding their children, you get better chocolate.”