• Low incomes and volatile pricing. This prevents farmers from investing in and developing their farms, continuing the cycle of poverty. Low incomes also fuel deforestation.
• Gender inequality. Women cocoa farmers in some producer countries often have limited access to resources and are discriminated against.
• Child labor has increased. According to the US Department of Labor, more than 1.5 million children aged five to 17 have been found to be working on cocoa farms in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana.
• Power in the chocolate industry is highly concentrated. That means cocoa farmers have little influence on the price they are paid for what they grow.
• The climate crisis is affecting cocoa farms. Unpredictable weather patterns, along with diseases and pests, are impacting cocoa production.
• Deforestation due to limited control over pricing and the need for cocoa. The industry's imbalance exacerbates environmental and economic strains for farmers.
 

1. Hazardous Work:
   • Tasks that expose children to dangerous conditions, such as using sharp tools (e.g., machetes), handling toxic chemicals like pesticides, or carrying heavy loads of cocoa beans.
   • Work in environments with extreme temperatures or during long hours, which can lead to physical harm or exhaustion.  
   • Any activity likely to harm a child’s health, safety, or morals. This includes:
     • Excessive Hours: Work that exceeds reasonable limits, interferes with schooling, or denies rest and leisure.
     • Carrying Heavy Loads: Tasks that require lifting or transporting weights inappropriate for a child’s age, strength, or development.
     • Use of Dangerous Tools and Machinery: Prohibits the use of sharp tools (e.g., machetes) or operating heavy equipment without adequate training and protective equipment.
2. Slavery or Practices Similar to Slavery:
   • This includes child trafficking, forced labor, or debt bondage, where children are coerced into work without the possibility of leaving.
3. Commercial Sexual Exploitation or Exploitation for Illicit Activities:
   • Though less common in cocoa farming specifically, this includes using children for illegal acts or prostitution.
4. Other Exploitative Practices:
   • Activities that deprive children of their right to education or those conducted in conditions that stunt their development.

• Clearing land for cocoa plantations.
• Applying hazardous pesticides without protective gear.
• Harvesting and splitting cocoa pods with dangerous tools.
• Working excessively long hours, limiting access to education and rest.

Fairtrade (www.fairtrade.net) is the most recognized and trusted sustainability label working to make trade fairer for the people who grow our food.

Fairtrade works towards fairer terms of trade for farmers and workers, safe working conditions, and environmental protection. This approach prioritizes the lives of farmers and workers in supply chains and partners with them as active participants in the decision-making process.

• Globally, 71% of shoppers recognize the Fairtrade Mark of them, 86% trust it.
• Fairtrade works with over 2 million farmers and workers in 70 countries around the world.
• Over the past decade, farming organizations have received over $2 billion in Fairtrade Premium. That’s money they get to invest in community and business development projects as they see fit.

Fairtrade puts farmers first. 

Fairtrade supports farmers and workers through a unique pricing model, sets rigorous standards across the supply chain, and fosters strong producer communities through local and regional networks. 

There are over 470,000 Fairtrade cocoa farmers representing almost a quarter of all Fairtrade farmers and workers. Their lives are improved in many ways:

• Decent livelihoods. Fairtrade’s living income strategy is pushing for a livelihood that covers cocoa farmers’ business costs and enough for basic human rights, such as nutritious food and education for their children. Fairtrade cocoa farmers have the buffer of the Fairtrade Minimum Price for what they grow, for when market prices drop. Farmers also receive the Fairtrade Premium, which they choose how to invest, for example, replacing old cocoa trees.
• Protecting young people. Fairtrade supports certified cocoa cooperatives in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana to strengthen prevention and remediation of child labor and forced labor.
• Sourcing. Fairtrade works with key industry players so that they can source large volumes of sustainably produced cocoa. This means more benefits for farmers.
• Gender equity. This recognizes that greater opportunities for women benefit everyone. Fairtrade Africa’s Women’s School of Leadership has helped young women become leaders in cocoa cooperatives, where management roles are typically held by men.
• Stronger together. By supporting smallholder farmers to join together into cooperatives and associations, farmers can negotiate better terms of trade and reach more markets.
• Climate resilience. Through specific programs and standards criteria, Fairtrade works with farmers to adapt to unpredictable weather patterns, mitigate environmental risks, and build a more resilient cocoa industry. 

Feastables seeks to eradicate child labor.

Unlike other chocolate companies, Feastables is doing these three things:

1. Feastables cocoa is 100% Fairtrade certified
   • The cocoa in Feastables chocolate bars and products is 100% Fairtrade certified.
   • Feastables is committed to sourcing 100% of our cocoa on Fairtrade terms
   • Feastables is one of the largest Fairtrade chocolate bar brands in the US
2. Feastables pays farmers and their families the Living Income Reference Price always
   • We pay the Living Income Reference Price because stopping child labor starts with addressing its root cause – poverty.
3. Feastables works exclusively with farms that actively implement child labor monitoring and remediation systems (CLMRS)
   • We do this to identify, address, and prevent child labor.