Friend, With Valentine’s Day nearly a month away, we are pleased to release our new Chocolate Retailer Scorecard. This scorecard focuses on what some of the largest US grocery stores and pharmacies are doing to address child labor and deforestation in chocolate production. Retailers make billions of dollars on chocolate sales and take an estimated 44% of the profits from chocolate bars. And cocoa farmers? A measly 6.6% of the profits. The Chocolate Retailer Scorecard examines both the retailer’s store brand and the amount of fair trade brands the retailer sells, as well as considering the retailer's commitment to ending deforestation and child labor. We hope this will help you to make more informed decisions about where you are most likely to find chocolate options that are ethically made. In order to end child labor and deforestation in the chocolate industry, the unfair division of chocolate profits must change, and you can help in making the necessary changes happen! What can you do? - If your favorite retailer received a low score, you can reach out to its customer service team to let them know this is an issue you care about and that you hope they will make advances in addressing child labor and deforestation in chocolate production in 2020.
- If your favorite retailer did well, you can also let them know! It is important that companies know what its consumers care about and keep prioritizing the issue.
- If you have the option, you can also use your purchasing power to shop with local stores with a wide variety of fair trade chocolate options or shop from some of the higher scoring retailers, like Aldi.
- Green America’s Green Pages are a great resource for finding fair and sustainable chocolate companies!
One of the results of consumer pressure on the chocolate industry is big chocolate brands developing sustainability initiatives. This pressure has also led to greater transparency about what chocolate brands are doing to address social and environmental harms, including child labor and deforestation. But, it is retailers that control what chocolates the public sees, and likely buys. And, since these retailers make the bulk of the profit off of chocolate, they should take the lead in promoting products that benefit farmers and the environment! If you prefer to shop online, you can also buy your Valentine's Day chocolates directly from these A-rated chocolate companies! Thank you for your continued support, | 
