“Bittersweet Chocolate: The Truth Behind the International Chocolate Industry” 

Chocolate Bunnies and storebrand chocolates, available in Cypriot super markets were tested in regards to their social and ecological quality by Future Worlds Center in the Chocolate Check 2016, which is based on independent certified systems - Fairtrade, UTZ, Rainforest Alliance και το ΕU-Organic-Label. Half of the chocolates tested came up as red, in both levels (ecological and social), due to the wide spread social and environmental exploitation in the conventional cocoa supply chain.

On average, every European consumes around 3 kilograms of chocolate per year - a considerable amount of it in the form of bunnies and storebrand chocolate of the supermarkets. Unfortunately, many of these small chocolate animals have a bitter AFTERTASTE“, explains Annagrace Messa from Future Worlds Center:

• More than two million children work in the cocoa farming in West Africa.
• In Ghana cocoa-farmers earn just 80 cent per day, in Ivory Coast only 50 cent.
• Only 6,6 % of the price we pay for a chocolate bar goes tot he farmer producing the cocoa.
• The highly toxic pesticides used in the cocoa farming considerably harm the small holder farmers, their families as well as the environment, as a recent report of the European campaign “SupplyChainge-Make Supermarkets Fair!” reveals.

Future Worlds Center, as part of the European Campaign “SupplyChainge – Make Supermarkets Fair!“ calls with a new petition on Supermarkets: “Dear Supermarkets – make your chocolate fair and green!“ With the petition consumers demand from their supermarkets to use 100% independent third-party certified cocoa for their store brand chocolates ensuring labour rights and ban of exploitative child labour, and to strive to use considerably more organic cocoa.

Further information;
1. Read more on our campaign and promote the petition: http://supplychainge.org/kampania-cy/make-chocolate-fair/?L=cy
2. Chocolate Check 2016 results: https://goo.gl/Auoy3Z
3. The Executive Summary of the new research report “Bittersweet Chocolate: The Truth Behind the International Chocolate Industry”: https://goo.gl/N3XbzF

Contact: Annagrace Messa, Future Worlds Center, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

* The project " Supply Cha!nge – Make Supermarkets Fair!“ is realized with the financial support of the European Commission. The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the project partners of the Supply Chainge Consortium and can in no way be taken to reflect the views of the European Union.