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Chocolate industry’s good and bad eggs named in run up to Easter

Tony’s Chocolonely wins the “Good Egg” award in this year’s Chocolate Scorecard rankings

• Mars, Snickers, Twix, Malteasers owner Mars Wrigley recognised for work supporting women which reduces child labour

• Cadbury owners Mondelēz receive “Bad Egg” award for lack of participation, an indication of a lack of public accountability 

• Chocolate companies report child labour down but NGO’s call out ‘cocoa washing’

• Record retail prices and shrinking products point to a chocolate sector at breaking point

Tony’s Chocolonely, Ritter Sport, Nestlé and Mars Wrigley have been named as among the most sustainable chocolate companies according to the sixth edition of the Chocolate Scorecard initiative co-ordinated by Be Slavery Free, an Australian coalition campaigning against modern slavery. 

The Chocolate Scorecard ranks companies based on traceability and transparency 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, and eliminating the use of harmful pesticides. 

Fuzz Kitto, Co Director at Be Slavery Free, said: “Consumers are being asked to swallow record chocolate prices, and shrinking products. The least they expect is chocolate free from slavery. The Chocolate Scorecard will help shoppers make smart purchases this Easter. Chocolate companies love to talk about policies and commitments, but 25 years since they promised to eliminate child labour from the supply chain, its time to stop ‘cocoa washing’ and innovate more effective action.” 

Among large chocolate companies, Tony’s Chocolonely scored highest, receiving the Chocolate Scorecard’s Good Egg award. 

Joke Aerts, Head of Credible Scaling at Tony’s Open Chain, said: "At Tony’s Chocolonely, transparency isn’t just a value—it’s a necessity for driving real change in the cocoa industry. The Chocolate Scorecard plays a crucial role in holding the industry accountable by ensuring companies report on the same key indicators, creating a level playing field for meaningful progress. We are proud to participate and honored to have received the Green Egg Award for the 6th consecutive time. The Scorecard not only motivates us to continuously improve but also pushes the entire industry to step up. We hope it inspires others to take action towards a truly fair and transparent cocoa supply chain.”

Meanwhile, multinational chocolate manufacturer Mondelēz, producers of Cadbury, Toblerone, Green&Black, Oreo, and Daim, was given the Bad Egg award due to its lack of transparency after failing to share any details. When they participated in the 5th Edition of the scorecard they ranked 25th out of 38 large companies. 

Mars Wrigley, which produces not only the Mars bar, but also Snickers, Twix, Malteasers and Milky Way, was recognised for its work supporting gender equality.

Harper McConnell, Global Vice President-Cocoa Sustainability at Mars Wrigley, said

“At Mars we understand that advancing gender equality is vital to helping to improve the cocoa sector. Empowering women farmers helps strengthen cocoa-growing communities while helping to increase household incomes and preserve forests.  We’re proud of efforts like our long-term collaboration with CARE on the Women for Change program which, as of 2024, reached 101,000 members, 75% of whom are women, and resulted in $20M in total savings and credits and $13M in loans.”

Overall, this year’s findings have shown improvements in transparency across the industry, with 82% of companies sharing data on child labour, compared to 45% in 2023. The industry reports the number of children experiencing hazardous labour conditions is slightly down, but experts warn they are still only finding less than half of actual cases.

There is some progress on the use of pesticides, however not sufficient to address the chronic exposure of children to harmful chemicals. The number of child labourers exposed to harmful pesticides tripled over 5 years to almost one in three, along with an increase in injuries, health impacts, and level of care needed. It is believed to be dangerous for pregnant mothers.

On deforestation, more than a third of cocoa bought by companies this year comes from deforested or unknown sources. Companies report that 84% of farmers in their supply chain are not earning a living income, or their income is unknown. A living income is the minimum amount needed to have the capacity to cover basic necessities.

Meanwhile in 2024 the price of cocoa quadrupled, pushing the chocolate sector to breaking point. In the UK for example a 1kg bag of Cadbury Easter eggs (made by Mondelēz) has increased by £3 every year since 2023. Products are shrinking too. Mondelēz reduced its Milka bars from 100 grams to 90 grams while raising the price.

This year’s scorecard shows little evidence that farmers are being lifted out of poverty and that their children still work in the supply chain with exposure to chemicals. Whilst the profits sit with CEO salaries and shareholder dividends, the risk for addressing these issues sits with the farmers. 

The below companies were recognised for their progress and achievements. 

Dutch Company Tony’s Chocolonely, received the good egg award for excellence and transparency

USA chocolate manufacturer Beyond Good, using beans from Madagascar and Uganda, received the Good Egg Award for smaller companies.

Swiss retailer Coop received the Good Egg Award for retailers. 

Mars received the Gender Award for policies and programs to empower women.

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For any remote or broadcast interviews, please contact:

Ellie van Laar - ellie@89up.org +447538601111

Cordelia Kretzschmar Cordelia@89up.org +447469930453

Quotes:

"Consumers are being asked to swallow record chocolate prices, and shrinking products. The least they expect is chocolate free from slavery. The Chocolate Scorecard will help shoppers make smart purchases this Easter. Chocolate companies love to talk about policies and commitments, but 25 years since they promised to eliminate child labour from the supply chain, its time to stop ‘cocoa washing’ and innovate more effective action."  Fuzz Kitto, Co-Director, Be Slavery Free (Organisation coordinating the Chocolate Scorecard) .

"The Chocolate Scorecard is immensely helpful in showing where a huge number of companies are in their journey to sustainability. Over the years, the way the Scorecard is set up and ranked has also improved to where it is now a best practice tool for individual corporate ranking."  Antonie Fountain, VOICE Network, A watchdog and catalyst for a reformed cocoa sector.

“We can see that consumers are looking to make informed decisions and expect companies to act in an ethical way to eliminate child labour and to produce chocolate in a way that is sustainable for the planet. Companies are responding to that. The improvements shown by these companies are a result of them listening to their customers. Normal people like you and me are making a difference and causing companies to change.” Andrew Wallis, CEO of Unseen

"At Tony’s Chocolonely, transparency isn’t just a value—it’s a necessity for driving real change in the cocoa industry. The Chocolate Scorecard plays a crucial role in holding the industry accountable by ensuring companies report on the same key indicators, creating a level playing field for meaningful progress. We are proud to participate and honored to have received the Green Egg Award for the 6th consecutive time. The Scorecard not only motivates us to continuously improve but also pushes the entire industry to step up. We hope it inspires others to take action towards a truly fair and transparent cocoa supply chain." Joke Aerts, Head of Credible Scaling at Tony’s Open Chain.

"At Mars we understand that advancing gender equality is vital to helping to improve the cocoa sector. Empowering women farmers helps strengthen cocoa-growing communities while helping to increase household incomes and preserve forests.  We’re proud of efforts like our long-term collaboration with CARE on the Women for Change program which, as of 2024, reached 101,000 members, 75% of whom are women, and resulted in $20M in total savings and credits and $13M in loans." Harper McConnell, Global Vice President-Cocoa Sustainability at Mars Wrigley.

"Doing things differently requires taking risks. We’re really proud of our unique supply chain for its ability to deliver not only a more flavorful chocolate, but a positive impact for our farmers and the 89 species that call our cocoa forest their home. The Chocolate Scorecard is starting to shine a light on important things, and we are honored to once again receive a Good Egg for our positive impact." Tim McCollum, Founder and CEO of Beyond Good.

"At Ritter, we love variety – the variety of colours, the variety of our chocolates and the variety of sustainability efforts along our supply chains. Good chocolate requires good cocoa. And to work with all stakeholders in our supply chain for good cocoa, we need to know where it comes from, who grows it and under what conditions. Our journey, which began over 30 years ago with our first cocoa programme in Nicaragua, has now become our standard. Tools like the Chocolate Scorecard are important to help us measure our efforts and impact internationally." Lydia Frech, Sustainability Manager of Raw Materials at Ritter Sport.

"At Cémoi we believe that if you want good chocolate you need good cocoa, and cocoa is better when farmers and environment are supported. So we not only take our responsibilities to farmers and cocoa fields seriously, but also to their families and to the communities they live in. The Chocolate Scorecard helps us do this by giving an objective view on how we stand within a sector with complex challenges to address, by helping us to identify strengths we need to continue building on and areas where we have more work to do." Julie Trandafir, Head of CSR at Cémoi.

"Behind the visually appealing Scorecard are thousands of figures and documents and many hours of research by a dedicated team. It encourages participants to improve their performance and contribute to recognise programmes and activities that are aiming to improve the lives of farmers and their families." Darrell High, Global Head Nestlé Cocoa Plan.