Anyone who loves chocolate knows there are times when nothing else will do. And unless you live in rural isolation, it’s easy to pop into any local shop anywhere and buy a bar of your favourite version of the chocolate fix.
Except that … it now transpires that the chocolate industry is a major supporter of child trafficking. Children are kidnapped from home or sold into the lucrative trade and forced to work on cocoa plantations, and all of us who buy bars of chocolate are unwittingly aiding and abetting child slavery.
Fairtrade chocolate is the obvious answer – as long as the chocoholic has the time and patience to postpone the chocolate craving long enough to go on a prolonged hunt for it. Unless you have an Oxfam shop or Co-op supermarket on your doorstep, you’re likely to draw a blank. It’s not in sweetshops, kiosks or newsagents. It’s rare and hidden in most supermarkets.
And why, when you do find a bar of Fairtrade choc, is it three times the size anyone wants to carry round in their pocket or eat in one go, as well as three times the price?
The thought of promoting or supporting child slavery is enough to leave anyone with a bad taste in the mouth.
But if consumers are seriously going to embrace the ethical alternative, surely it’s the manufacturers of the already popular brands of chocolate who have to clean up their act, salve their reputation, and put pressure on their suppliers to end this horrendous practice of child labour?
In the meantime, Fairtraders and retailers need to meet in the middle and agree to provide and supply some products that your average chocolate-bar-muncher can access, afford and find appetising, without going round the block to find them.
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