Fair trade chocolate: The list

MiNDFOOD short-lists the tastiest fair trade chocolate brands on the market.

According to Fairtrade Australia, chocolate is “no treat for the hundreds of thousands of labourers who pick the cocoa that goes into some of our favourite sweets.” These labourers, some of them children, work long days picking and
processing cocoa beans for little money. Certified Fairtrade chocolate is produced under conditions that give farmers the best possible opportunity to make a decent living. The certification means you can eat your beloved chocolate guilt-free (in one sense, anyway).

The MiNDFOOD office has taste tested 15 types of fair trade chocolate and short-listed the yummiest. Here are our picks:

1 Alter Eco Fairtrade

Cashew and Raisin Delight Milk Chocolate

Fruit and nut chocolate is one of those things you either love or hate. However, even non-fans found this chocolate to be luscious and addictive. What makes it so delicious is the size of the fruit and nut pieces – so tiny that they blend into the smooth Swiss milk chocolate with ease.

2 Cocolo

Dark Orange

This chocolate from Cocolo is the perfect blend of bitter and sweet. While it’s surprisingly smooth for a citrus-infused chocolate, it ends on an explosion of flavour – meaning you could really only eat one row in a seating.

3 Oxfam

Milk Chocolate with Nuts

What we first noticed about the Oxfam range of chocolates was how chunky it was, almost double the thickness of the Cocolo range. When it comes to chocolate, texture is just as important as flavour so the chunkiness definitely upped the pleasure factor. Texture aside, Oxfam’s Milk Chocolate with Nuts was super creamy and rich.

4 Cocolo

White with Almond Crunch

Cocolo has definitely hit the nail on the head with their white chocolate – which many of us in the office normally find too sickly. The chocolate’s organic “almond crunch” is a sugar and almond concoction that blends well into the chocolate, toning down the richness.

5 Chocolatier

Dark Chocolate Thins

Although MiNDFOOD’s hardcore dark chocolate fans found these thins a little too sweet, the rest of us found them very smooth and addictive. The thins come in individually wrapped pairs, meaning they’re good for ensuring portion control or to throw in your pocket or handbag.

More about fair trade chocolate.