Conscious Fashion: All’s Fair in Love&Chocolate

Although Valentines Day was yesterday, the entire week seems to be dedicated to red hearts, love letters, and chocolate. With chocolate on the brain and in the stores, this is the perfect opportunity to look at what it means to be Fair Trade and where to find Fair Trade chocolate.

 The Fair Trade system relies on building mutual partnerships that foster respect and fair pricing. Fair Trade strives to ensure that workers are not exploited for the work they do. This is reflected in the involvement workers have with their goods in both the early stages of development and in the marketplace. Chocolate, always in high demand, is particularly labor intensive and requires many ingredients. Companies such as Equal Exchange receive the Fair Trade label because they use only Fair Trade ingredients: vanilla, sugar, and cocoa are all fairly traded. Divine Chocolate is another unique Fair Trade chocolate company; the cocoa is not only purchased at fair trade pricing, the farmers have a 45% share in the company. Sweetriot Chocolates, another Fair Trade company, creates delicious chocolates that come in reusable eco-friendly tin packs.