Cadbury Dairy Milk, Hershey’s Kisses, M&M’s, Ferrero Rocher, Snickers, Toblerone, Nutella—chances are, you have gifted or received one of these chocolates to say, “I like you,” “I love you,” or “I appreciate you.” 

People relish their sweetness, enjoy the gesture, and bask in their romantic appeal. However, beneath the shiny wrappers and warm sentiments, a bitter aftertaste lingers: children as young as five toil in cocoa fields in Ghana and the Ivory Coast, working in dangerous conditions for mere pennies a day.

When celebrations center our time—heart’s day, graduation, and suchlike—before you indulge in a bite of your favorite chocolate, ask yourself: is a sweet token of love worth the cost of a stolen childhood?

Mars Inc.

Famous for Snickers, Maltesers, Twix, and M&M’s, Mars has long been implicated in profiting from child labor. On November 23, 2023,  CBS News uncovered children as young as five wielding machetes almost their size, harvesting cocoa beans in Ghana. Despite their Cocoa for Generations Strategy pledge in 2018 to eliminate child labor by 2025 through their “Child and Forced Labor Monitoring and Remediation Systems” (CLMRS), the reality on the ground tells a different story.

Take Munira, a 15-year-old girl who has been working in the cocoa fields since she was five. During the year before, her family harvested only one bag of decent-quality cocoa. A 140-pound bag of the product fetches only about $115. 

 In 2022, Mars visited her farm, handing her a backpack and schoolbooks bearing the hopeful slogan: “I am a child, I play, I go to school.” Eighteen months later, no one followed up to see if she was actually in school. Accounts by other underaged workers share the same sentiment.

During their coverage, CBS news stated how one child nearly lose his fingers to a machete blade while hacking open cocoa pods. 

As part of their campaign against child slavery, Mars had mentioned rescuing thousands of children from cocoa plantations, but nearly a dozen of the names on the lists of children rescued by Mars—as provided to CBS News by a whistleblower—were still found working in the fields, despite Mars’ claims that more than 65% of its West African cocoa supply chain had supposedly complied with their CLMRS. 

According to investigations by the news outlet, field supervisors from small subsistence farms regularly lied on their paperwork, saying children were attending school rather than working in cocoa fields, and alleged the companies never tried to verify that information.

In response to the issue, Mars issued a statement stating “Mars unequivocally condemns the use of child labor. It has no place in our supply chain, and we are fully committed to helping to eradicate it.” 

The company said it is “urgently investigating” the claims made by CBS and is prepared to take “appropriate action” against any supplier not in compliance with its code of conduct.

Terry Collingsworth, a human rights lawyer in the U.S., has filed a proposed class-action lawsuit alleging consumer fraud against American chocolate companies including Mars. He has collected statements from Ghanaian children working for Mars suppliers, including young boys doing the backbreaking work in the fields.

The Hershey Company

The company behind Hershey’s Kisses, Milk Chocolate Bars, and Reese’s generates over $7.5 billion annually. Despite pledging to source 100% certified cocoa by 2020, Hershey admitted in 2019 that it could only trace about half of its supply.

Hershey is one of the companies named as a defendants in a lawsuit filed in Washington DC by the human rights firm International Rights Advocates (IRA), on behalf of eight former child slaves who say they were forced to work without pay on cocoa plantations in the west African country. The other brands included in the complaint were Nestlé, Cargill, Barry Callebaut, Mars, Olam, and Mondelēz. 

The plaintiffs, all of whom are originally from Mali and are now young adults, are seeking damages for forced labour and further compensation for unjust enrichment, negligent supervision and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

In the legal claim, they describe being recruited in Mali through trickery and deception, before being trafficked across the border to cocoa farms in Ivory Coast. There, they were forced to work – often for years or more – with no pay, no travel documents and no clear idea of where they were or how to get back to their families.

The lawsuit claims one plaintiff was only 11 years old when a local man in his home town of Kouroussandougou, Mali, promised him work in Ivory Coast for 25,000 CFA francs (£34) a month. The legal documents allege that the boy worked for two years without ever being paid, often applying pesticides and herbicides without protective clothing.

The documents claim another child named as a plaintiff in the suit had visible cuts on his hands and arms from machete accidents. Speaking of his experience of forced labour between 2009 and 2011, he recalls being constantly bitten by insects. As with most of the plaintiffs, he claims in the lawsuit that he was promised payment after the harvest, but it never came.

During field work for this case, the plaintiffs’ legal team say that they routinely found children using machetes, applying chemicals and undertaking other hazardous tasks on cocoa plantations that were producing for one or more of the defendants.

The case documentation maintains that the defendants are responsible for developing the entire cocoa production system of Ivory Coast. As key participants in this “venture”, it is claimed that they either knew or should have known about the “systematic” use of child labour.

The case is being brought under the Trafficking Victims Protection Reauthorization Act of 2017. IRA is currently involved in a separate complaint filed under the Alien Tort Statute against Nestlé and Cargill.

A spokesperson for Hershey said: “We understand and agree with the concerns about the heartbreaking instances of child and forced labor. Hershey does not tolerate child or forced labor in our supply chain. These human rights violations have no place in the global cocoa industry, and we are committed to ending it. Effectively eliminating human rights violations and addressing the underlying issue of poverty that is the root cause of these labor violations requires significant investment and intervention on the ground in West Africa, not in the courts.

In the research paper entitled “The Hershey Company and West African Cocoa Communities,” it was described that children who work on cocoa plantations are usually somewhere between 12 and 15 years old but some are as young as 5 years old. Many of them work in hazardous conditions on the plantations, which include applying pesticides, working with sharp objects like knives and machetes, working without safety equipment, and working in environments full of snakes, insects, and other dangerous animals. 

Although governments and corporations are aware of this problem, no accurate information, aside from estimates, exists regarding the true number of children working on cocoa plantations. The difficulty of obtaining accurate data can be attributed to the immense quantity of cocoa plantations across Africa, totaling well over 1,000,000 small plantations (average size 2-4 hectares), with between 600,000 and 800,000 plantations located throughout the Ivory Coast.

Nonetheless, it is estimated that two-thirds of African farms use child labor. Research conducted by the International Labor Organization (ILO) stated that in 2007 there were 284,000 children who worked in hazardous conditions related to cocoa in the Ivory Coast.

The number of victims of labor exploitation has increased. A recent survey has found that child labor has increased 21 percent from five years before. About 2.1 million children are employed in child labor in the Ivory Coast and Ghana. Most of the people working on cocoa farms live well below the poverty line.

Mondelez International

Known for Cadbury, Oreo, and Toblerone, Mondelez International has faced criticism for its role in perpetuating child labor. A proposed class-action lawsuit claims the company has built its global empire by paying cocoa farmers as little as $3 a day, forcing them to rely on child labor.

Despite product labels boasting “certified” or “100% sustainable” cocoa, Channel 4’s Dispatches uncovered children as young as 10 using machetes to harvest cocoa for Mondelez.

Ferrero

Makers of Nutella, Kinder, and Ferrero Rocher, Ferrero has been slammed for its lack of transparency and inadequate action on child labor. Green America gave the company a “D” rating due to its failure to eliminate labor exploitation.

Beyond cocoa, Ferrero’s hazelnut sourcing is equally troubling. Reports reveal child labor on Turkish farms, where children as young as 11 work 12-hour shifts in unsafe conditions. Campaign groups have documented children picking hazelnuts without proper safety equipment, perpetuating yet another cycle of exploitation.

The Process of Making Chocolate

Chocolate starts with the cocoa bean, extracted from the Theobroma cacao pod. The process begins when workers, often children, use machetes to split open pods and retrieve the beans. Each pod holds 20 to 50 beans, and it takes about 400 beans to make a single pound of chocolate.

Once harvested, the beans are dried under the sun for several days before being packed and shipped. While cocoa farmers live in extreme poverty, international chocolate companies generate billions in revenue. Child exploitation remains pervasive, and many corporations have failed to meet their promises to eliminate child labor.

As consumers, we must recognize the dark side of the chocolate industry and demand greater transparency and ethical sourcing from these corporations.

The Sweet Alternative: Filipino Chocolate

Instead of funding exploitation, why not support world-class Filipino chocolate that champions sustainability and community empowerment? Here is the idea–delicious chocolates that pay farmers fairly.

Filipino chocolate that offers a world of bold, tropical flavors while championing sustainability, ethical production, and community empowerment. These brands do not just pay homage to heritage—they compete on a global scale.

Auro Chocolate earned Silver at the 2023 Cacao of Excellence Awards and was twice recognized for producing some of the “Best Cacao Beans in the World.”

Malagos Chocolate (Davao) has won 56 international awards since its 2013 launch, with its Puentespina Cacao Farm ranking among the Best 50 Beans in the World and securing the prestigious Heirloom Cacao Designation.

MS3 Chocolates (Davao) earned Bronze and Silver at the UK’s 11th Academy of Chocolate Awards, showcasing its commitment to innovation and supporting local farmers.

Dalareich Food Products (Bohol) clinched Gold for its 100% Unsweetened Drinking Chocolate. 

Tokens of our love and appreciation—often symbolized through chocolates—will not come off as sweet if it comes with the bitter aftertaste of exploitation. Ditch brands that profit off child labor, and choose chocolates that come from the heart—literally and ethically. Because real love is not about ignorance; it is about making thoughtful, responsible choices. And really, isn’t that the sweetest kind of love?