Here’s who topped the rankings in this year’s scorecard for sustainable chocolate – and which confectionery giant refused to participate
- Written by Stephanie Perkiss, Associate professor in accounting, University of Wollongong
With the Easter weekend now around the corner, the sixth edition of the global Chocolate Scorecard has just been released.
This is an annual initiative produced by Be Slavery Free, in collaboration with two Australian universities and a wide range of consultants and sustainability interest groups.
It ranks companies across the entire chocolate sector – from major multinational producers through to retailers – on a wide range of sustainability policies and practices.
This year, there have been some improvements across the board.
Transparency has increased, with 82% of companies now fully disclosing child labour data, up from 45% in 2023. The data reported also shows the discovery of child labour is down in the sector.
On other measures, the sector is less commendable. Deforestation is still high, with more than a third of cocoa bought by companies coming from deforested or unknown sources.
Companies reported that 84% of cocoa farmers in their supply chain are not earning a living income – or their income is unknown. And there hasn’t been enough progress on the use of pesticides to address the chronic exposure of communities to harmful chemicals.
Chocolate’s annual scorecard
The Chocolate Scorecard evaluates and ranks chocolate traders, manufacturers, brands and retailers.
This year, 60 companies from around the world were invited to participate. Collectively, these companies purchase more than 90% of the world’s cocoa.
Companies are categorised as either large, small (less than 1,000 tons of cocoa) or retailers. They’re evaluated based on a range of policies and practices.
These include:
- traceability and transparency levels across supply chains
- whether they pay farmers a living income
- efforts to prevent the use of child labour
- action on climate and deforestation
- how they support agroforestry
- efforts to eliminate the use of harmful pesticides.
Top of the class
Awards were given out this year to the best and the worst performers – a “Good Egg” award in each category, a gender award, and a “Bad Egg” award overall.
This year, Tony’s Chocolonely won the Good Egg award in the large company category. It scored the highest against the six markers, representing the most sustainable chocolate company according to the scorecard.
The Gender award went to Mars Wrigley – which produces Mars, Snickers, Twix and Malteasers – recognising the company for work supporting gender equality.
The Good Egg award for smaller companies went to US chocolate manufacturer Beyond Good. Beyond Good buys beans directly from farmers in Madagascar and Uganda, ensuring traceability and fair trade practices.
Unlike indirect sourcing in the cocoa commodity supply chain, Beyond Good’s direct trade model means the company buys cocoa direct from the farmers. Bypassing intermediaries enables better transparency and supply chain relationships.
The ‘bad egg’ award
This year, multinational chocolate manufacturer Mondelēz, producers of Cadbury, Toblerone, Green & Black’s, Oreo and Daim, was given the “Bad Egg” award.
The award recognises the company’s decision not to participate in this year’s chocolate scorecard process, indicating of a lack of transparency and public accountability.
Mondelēz did participate in the last (fifth) edition, ranking 25th out of 38 large companies. The company has not provided a reason for not participating this year. However, it is an outlier, as all other large chocolate companies participated.
Another notable absence from this year’s scorecard was major Australian retailer Coles, which has participated in the past.
The understanding that businesses have a responsibility to be accountable to their consumers is not new. It encompasses aspects of corporate social responsibility – compliance, ethical and sustainable practices, and transparency.
To be transparent, companies need to be open and honest about how their products are made, how their prices are set and what policies they follow.
A sector in turmoil
The global chocolate sector is facing some serious challenges. About 75% of the world’s cocoa is produced in West Africa.
Cocoa prices surged to record highs in 2024. Many major chocolate companies increased their prices as a result.
Despite the price of chocolate rising, these increases are often not passed on, leaving many cocoa farmers in extreme poverty. This is in addition to struggling with the impacts of climate change.
New uncertainty for producers are only set to worsen in the wake of the Trump administration’s dismantling of USAID and International Labour Affairs Bureau programs. Such cuts ending projects for health, humans rights and monitoring risk reversing the much celebrated progress on reducing child labour in chocolate supply chains.
Authors: Stephanie Perkiss, Associate professor in accounting, University of Wollongong
