While chocolate can be a delicious treat, like everything we consume, it’s important to consider the quality of the ingredients, where it comes from, and the supply chains of the cocoa industry.

Unfortunately a lot of mainstream chocolate has been linked to unethical sourcing practices that are harming farmers and the communities that produce them.

On top of questionable ethics, some ingredients used in chocolate have been exposed to toxic pesticides. That's where organic chocolate comes in!

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This guide will help conscious consumers learn about sustainable agriculture, good chocolate, and meet some of the best organic chocolate brands.

Let’s start by learning what organic chocolate is, diving into my favorite brands, and then exploring the environmental impacts.

What is organic chocolate?

Organic chocolate is chocolate grown and produced according to USDA organic standards. This means that no pesticides, herbicides, synthetic fertilizers, or genetically modified organisms (GMOs) have been used.

Also, other products use to make the chocolate (added sugar like cane sugar, milk, nuts, fruit, spices, etc.) have to hit a certain percentage of certified organic ingredients.

6 Organic Chocolate Brands To Try

Here are some sustainable, organic chocolate brands that will satisfy your cravings, guilt-free. I have personally tried chocolate from all of these brands and love them!

Alter Eco’s Organic Chocolate Truffles, Bars, & Butter Bombs

Alter Eco is setting new standards for sustainability. They’ve established a foundation that helps their cacao suppliers in Ecuador to transition to a type of regenerative agriculture called dynamic agroforestry.

Cacao plants are intercropped with several other native plants, such as banana trees, to support soil health and local biodiversity.

Their fair trade-certified chocolate won’t let your taste buds down! They offer 11 different flavors (all of which are gluten-free and non-GMO), as well as four kinds of decadent truffles, containing 47 to 90% cocoa mass.

They have both milk chocolate and dark chocolate bar options as well as vegan chocolate.

Each and every chocolate bar from Alter Eco feels deluxe, packaged with an artistic design concept for you and your loved ones to enjoy.

My personal favorite products from Alter Eco are their truffles, made with organic cocoa butter for an ultra-creamy texture. Plus, I love that their wrappers are backyard compostable! I always purchase these on Thrive Market!

Shop Alter Eco

Beyond Good’s Direct Trade, Vegan, & Organic Chocolate

Looking for vegan-friendly organic chocolate? Beyond Good has some of the best dairy-free chocolate bars on the market.

The brand uses special Heirloom cocoa beans, which are rich in Criollo — the world’s oldest and most flavorsome variety of cacao grown exclusively in Madagascar.

Not only do they pay farmers fair trade prices, they also use cocoa agro-forestry to restore forests, which benefits the farmers, local biodiversity, and helps promote greater sustainability in the chocolate sector.

Select Beyond Good products are USDA Organic certified, Project non-GMO verified, vegan, kosher, soy-free and gluten-free. Flavors include dark and rich with hints of salted caramel, orange, crispy rice, toasted coconut and sea salt.

My personal favorite chocolate bar from Beyond Good is the Orange Zest! I love the fruity combination with the chocolate. I also love the sea salt chocolate bar!

Shop Beyond Good

Theo’s Bean to Bar Chocolate

Theo’s organic chocolate range is a dream for chocolate lovers due to its many unique flavors. But the fair trade company also has impressive green credentials.

For Theo, creating delicious organic chocolate is an opportunity to have a positive impact. That’s the reason they skip middlemen and partner directly with smallholder farms in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (EDRC).

Their ingredients are certified Fair for Life by Ecocert. They take pride every link in the supply chain from bean to bar.

I’ve even toured their factory in Seattle! It was really impressive!

A few of Theo’s popular offerings include Grapefruit Ginger, Root Beer Barrel, Coffee Toffee, Bread & Chocolate, Cinnamon Horchata and Hazelnut Crunch.

My personal favorite is the Raspberry Cocoa Nib Chocolate bar. And I LOVE to use their baking chocolate and dark chocolate bars when I bake.

Shop Theo

Equal Exchange’s Fair Trade Organic Chocolate

Equal Exchange is a sustainable food brand whose mission is to foster mutually beneficial relationships between farmers and consumers, hence the name.

Their organic chocolate bars are made with pure ingredients and have some of the most delightful flavors like caramel crunch, orange, coconut milk and almond and sea salt that are sure to satisfy your sweet tooth.

For chocolate lovers who love to bake, they also have organic fairly traded baking cocoa powder perfect for brownies, cakes, cookies and countless desserts.

Equal Exchange makes electable chocolates with organic ingredients, which are bought from small-scale farmers in Central and Latin America. The ingredients are bought at a fair trade price and stamped organic by the USDA.

My personal favorite chocolate bar from Equal Exchange is the caramel.

Shop Equal Exchange

Fran’s Luxury Chocolate Made with Organic Ingredients

If you have a taste for luxury chocolate, indulge in Fran’s premium, artisan chocolate creations. The brand is more than a chocolate company, named after founder, Fran Bigelow who has been credited for sparking the artisan chocolate renaissance in the U.S. and is considered one of the best chocolatiers in the nation.

Frans has a long history of sourcing local and certified Organic and Fairtrade ingredients from Washington and Oregon, and every purchase helps contribute to the farmers’ betterment.

You must try their Gray and Smoked Salt Caramels which were awarded Gold Medals for Outstanding Confection, along with their truffles and buttercups!

Shop Fran's

Green & Black’s Sustainably Sourced Organic Chocolate Bars

Recognized as a market leader in organic chocolate, Green & Black is a British brand that was started by husband and wife, Craig Sams and Jo Fairley in 1991.

The company believes in a bean to bar ethical standard, meaning they expect co-manufacturers, partners, and sources to uphold certain standards.

Even the name of this brand embodies their values. Green embodies its commitment to using organic ingredients that are ethically and sustainably sourced. While black represents the high cocoa content of their chocolate that delivers an intense, delicious taste.

Their chocolate bars are equally appealing to the taste buds. Made from shade-grown cocoa beans as well as other fair trade ingredients, Green & Blacks’s signature flavors include roasted almond, maya gold, sea salt and butterscotch.

My personal favorite chocolate bar from Green & Black is the Milk Chocolate with Almonds.

Shop Green & Black

Why Is Organic Chocolate Better than Regular Chocolate?

By choosing organic chocolate, you can support brands that prioritize ethical and sustainable practices. Just a note: organic chocolate does not automatically mean it is also fair trade chocolate, and vice versa.

Organic chocolate has many benefits not just for the planet, but also for your health. Read on for more details about what sets organic chocolate apart from regular chocolate.

Better the environment

All chocolate starts with cacao beans harvested from the cacao tree which naturally grows under taller rainforest trees in tropical regions along the equator. As such, they contribute to the forest’s biodiversity and help protect the forest ecosystem.

As chocolate has become more popular, millions of acres of forest have been cleared for cacao production. These cocoa farms grow cacao in monocropping systems which require the use of toxic pesticides and fertilizers which pollute the environment.

In contrast, organic chocolate is made using eco-friendly methods, such as using natural fertilizers and biodynamic tools, which are better for animals and eco-systems, leaving less of an environmental impact.

Good for farmers

About 70% of the global chocolate supply comes from developing countries in West Africa such as Ghana, Nigeria and Ivory Coast. According to a 2015 U.S. Labor Department report, more than 1.5 million children were engaged in dangerous labor in cocoa-growing regions.

Fair-trade organic chocolate companies are typically able to trace their organic cacao beans throughout their supply chain. They ensure that they’re produced by adult farmers, not child labor, who work in much safer conditions and receive a fair wage.

Organic chocolate is also better for farmers because cocoa beans are grown with no harmful chemicals that could compromise their health or impact surrounding communities.

Healthier for you

Not only is chocolate delicious it can be good for you in small amounts. Recent studies suggest chocolate can increase heart health, balances the immune system, reduces stress, improve brain function and more.

Some experts even recommend that you have 48g of 70% of dark chocolate a day, to protect against inflammation and cardiovascular diseases. No wonder Mayans called it “food of the gods.”

Since chemical pesticides are widely used in conventional cocoa production, some studies have found cocoa beans contamination.

While none of these pesticides exceed the European Union’s Maximum Residue Limits for cocoa beans, the findings highlight the importance of choosing organic chocolate if you want to minimize your exposure to pesticides.

Not to mention regular chocolate often has a long list of additives, including artificial flavors, emulsifiers and preservatives, some of which could cause allergic reactions and food hypersensitivity.You can enjoy high quality organic chocolate knowing that the ingredients were produced more naturally.

Higher Quality Ingredients

Since organic chocolate brands aren’t trying to cut corners, this usually results in higher quality ingredients. I think you can taste a difference. I personally think organic chocolate tastes better than conventional chocolate.

Third Party Certifications

When buying organic chocolate, it can be helpful to look for certifications that indicate ethical and environmental responsibility of the brand. Labels like USDA Organic, Fair Trade USA, FairTrade International, and Fair for Life communicate to customers that the product will meet their quality and safety concerns.

On top of looking for these certifications take the time to read into each companies' practices.

If something is labeled direct trade then that means the company buys the cocoa directly from the farmers rather than through a third party. This is good too because it means the brand is working with the farmers and the farmers usually receive more money this way.

It's also important to acknowledge that third party certifications require time and resources that some small scale cocoa farmers or brands do not have. However, some of these smaller operations do still use organic practices, so be sure to reach out and ask.

Socially responsible brands will be happy to share their sustainable practices with you and probably appreciate that you took the time to reach out.

Hopefully this guide has helped you learn a bit more about the chocolate industry and the importance of choosing an organic chocolate bar next time you're browsing the candy aisle!

The best chocolate, in my opinion, is the chocolate that tastes good and does good.

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