This year, 49 chocolate companies and retailers took part in the 7th edition of the Chocolate Scorecard. Between them, they cover roughly nine out of every ten cocoa beans in the global supply chain.
They were assessed on eight themes: traceability and transparency, living income, child and forced labour, deforestation, agroforestry and climate, pesticides, gender, and farmer health.
The results, published today, see awards given to the following:
Good Eggs
- HALBA – a large company awarded a green egg, a scorecard first!
- Original Beans – a small company, consistently scoring highly and a repeat winner
- Coop – a Swiss retailer striving for better
NEW Farmer Health Award
- The Hershey Company for its Ghana health-insurance programme
Gender Award
- Tony’s Chocolonely – using data to illuminate gender imbalances
The Retail Stayers Award
- Honouring eight retailers who have submitted to scrutiny year after year – Ahold Delhaize, Aldi Nord, ALDI SOUTH Group, Carrefour, Coop, MIGROS, Systeme U and Woolworths.
Eight of the 49 companies scored well in every category and the leaders are no longer just the small craft chocolate makers. Switzerland-based HALBA became the first large company in Scorecard history to score green in every category — paying farmers a living-income premium, mapping every farm in its supply chain, and running agroforestry projects across multiple countries.
The biggest single shift is on farmer income. A year ago, the average company did not know how much the farmers in its supply chain earned — for 55% of those farmers, their income status was recorded as “unknown.” This year that figure has collapsed to 15%. However, this is still the area that needs the most work. Eight in ten participating companies are still failing to ensure that the farmers in their supply chain earn enough to live on.
The second lowest scoring area was on pesticides with most companies not doing enough to tackle pesticide use in their supply chain. Seven out of ten companies make demands that some pesticides be restricted but are not understanding use, tackling pesticide poisoning or helping farmers to reduce their reliance on chemicals. Specialist chocolate brands Bennetto, Chocolatemakers, Malmö and Original Beans scored best for using 100% organic cocoa. Two large manufacturers – Ritter Sport and HALBA were also awarded green eggs on pesticides for eliminating Highly Hazardous Pesticides from their supply chains through only using cocoa certified under Rainforest Alliance or Fairtrade standards. In addition, they are delivering credible programmes to support farmers to phase-out the use of pesticides through the adoption of safe and effective biological pest management approaches.
Who’s getting it right?
Ritter Sport: proof that a mainstream company can do better
For UK shoppers, Ritter Sport is a familiar name — the brightly coloured square bars stocked in supermarkets and corner shops. This year, Ritter Sport, a mainstream manufacturer using substantial amounts of cocoa, scored green on pesticides.
Scoring green requires genuine commitment to reducing pesticide use and addressing harms. It requires a strong pesticide policy, clear evidence of how that policy is turned into action at farm level, and data on pesticide use and alternatives. It also needs long-term partnerships to support farmers.
Supporting farmers to grow cocoa without pesticides is a win for the health of farming communities and the children who live on cocoa farms. It increases profitability for cocoa farmers which is a crucial lifeline for so many families and secures the long-term resilience of the cocoa crop itself.
The now familiar name, Tony’s Chocolonely, continues to score highly across the categories. Tony’s are also galvanising efforts across the sector through their innovative “Tony’s Open Chain”. However, when it comes to pesticides, they lagged behind the leaders who showcased substantial efforts to support farmers to manage cocoa pests and diseases without needing pesticides at all. Ritter Sport’s green score is a signal to the rest of the mainstream industry that this is achievable at scale.
Where is Cadbury?
Not every company that sells chocolate in the UK took part. Cadbury was not represented. Mondelez International, the owner of Cadbury, Milka, Toblerone, Côte d’Or and Green & Black’s, did not respond to the Scorecard this year. Silence is a position. Starbucks also chose not to submit to scrutiny.
Most chocolate companies have put their pesticide policies on paper. That requires showing up, submitting data, and opening up to the scrutiny, advice and support that the consortium of global experts leading the Chocolate Scorecard provides.
What this means for your chocolate cravings?
The Scorecard’s message to shoppers: use your purchasing power, ask difficult questions, and reward the companies that don’t accept that cocoa farmers should remain in poverty – they are showing up to support farmers. We can too.
About the Chocolate Scorecard
The Chocolate Scorecard is a project of Be Slavery Free, delivered each year by a coalition of more than 30 NGOs, academic institutions, faith groups, and civil-society partners — including the University of Wollongong and The Open University in the United Kingdom. Companies are assessed against publicly available evidence by independent scorers, including academics and NGOs. Rankings are published on a five-tier traffic-light scale — green, yellow, orange, red, and black/greyscale — so consumers, retailers, and policymakers can see at a glance who is leading, who is catching up, and who refuses to be assessed. See the full ranking at: www.chocolatescorecard.com
