22 Comments
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Teresa Montgomery's avatar

Thank you for sharing this expose of the Chocolate makers and their desire for profits above caring what happens to these children. Also thank you for the research you put into this and all your blogs like it.

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Cathey Cone's avatar

I love, love, love doing research on stories that I'm passionate about. It's sometimes hard to pare down what I find to make it blog-sized!

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Tricia Thornton's avatar

Timely with Halloween 🎃 upon us. That is so sad to hear. What many people enjoy as a treat is actually a nightmare for many. Thank you for sharing.

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Cathey Cone's avatar

I will be looking for alternatives to hand out instead of chocolate this year. After researching this I can't look at those bags of Halloween chocolates without thinking of the children.

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Elizabeth de Pancorvo's avatar

Thanks for the information Cathey! I have to confess that one of the things I enjoy most is eating chocolate and I had no idea what went into the manufacturing process. I will share this information with my family and my friends.

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Cathey Cone's avatar

That's EXACTLY what I was hoping would happen. Just creating awareness is what it takes for people to make choices that may make a difference for a child in Africa. We can still eat chocolate, we just have to look a little harder for fair trade chocolate that falls outside of the norm. Someone shared with me that Lindt is another company that is ethical - I don't know if you get that brand where you are, but it's a big company from Switzerland who distributes worldwide. We have it in our grocery stores and it's delicious!

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Elizabeth de Pancorvo's avatar

Swiss chocolates are the best and here we can get them in the supermarket. Thank you Cathey!

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Christine Davies's avatar

Wow, I had no idea about the child labour going on and how bad it is. That's shocking. I can't believe their own families sell them off.

I just looked up a 2022 assessment of chocolate sold in Australia. I was glad to note that Australian, owned and made, Darrell Lea was no. 4 on the list of 97. No child labour, no palm oil.

Unfortunately Cadbury and Nestlé were down the bottom. This was due to the USA & Swiss production, not the Australian production. The Australian production of chocolate made here in Australia, appears to be different to their parent companies when it comes to sourcing and making the chocolate. I found this really interesting as I knew we made the Cadbury chocolate here. But the parent company needs improvement.

Overall, the Australian production seems to be doing the right thing.

At least that's what I saw in the charts.

It was interesting seeing the differences between the Cadbury & Nestlé parent companies and the Australian based branch of the two companies.

I also didn't know that, though small, some cacao trees are grown in Queensland.

It was also good to see that all Australian owned companies were at the top.

But will keep my eyes open when I go to the supermarket.

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Cathey Cone's avatar

I cannot tell you how much I LOVE that you did all this research, Christine! And I am so happy to hear that you now know what is happening in Australia and what companies you can trust. That's what we all need to do so we can have a clear conscious about our choices. Well done!

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Leanna Julius's avatar

Thank you for sharing and bringing awareness to this!

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Cathey Cone's avatar

I feel blessed to have a platform to do so. We're all in this together!

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Delores A. Repass's avatar

Very informative Cathey. Thank you. I am not a chocolate person but my sister is. I am forwarding this article to her.

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Cathey Cone's avatar

Thank you Delores. Spreading awareness is what I hoped this would accomplish!

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Lucinda Jolly's avatar

As delicious as chocolate is I don’t have to have it. I’m glad to get this heads up .

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Cathey Cone's avatar

I'm sure most people have no idea this has been going on for decades. It's a big problem to tackle, but at least there's some awareness and progress now.

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Lucinda Jolly's avatar

I knew sugar farming has a dark side too. I’m doing less of that.

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Lucy Bernas's avatar

Thank you for sharing Ms. Cathey I shared this to my friend Gloria she’s born and raised in Ghana, they now live here in Watford City. I have pure chocolate in my freezer no preservatives from home from our cacao tree.

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Cathey Cone's avatar

Just trying to share some awareness. I love that you have your own source for chocolate! Thanks for spreading the word. The more we know, the more we can do about it.

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Rita Waters's avatar

I did not know about this either Cathey. What a shock, similar to learning about the way Cashew nuts are harvested etc. another shock I learned about recently. Cadbury cream eggs have been a favourite for years😢

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Cathey Cone's avatar

I know what you mean - sometimes ignorance is bliss, but once you know, you know. I don't eat a lot of chocolate, but I sure am going to miss those mini eggs!

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Kathryn Brand's avatar

Thanks for sharing Never knew that. Thank you Cathey. I don’t think I can ever eat another chocolate bar knowing this. I pray someone will take action about this situation.

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Cathey Cone's avatar

It's good to know that there are places we can source chocolate who are the driving force in changing the industry. But for sure it tugs at our conscience when we think of the children. We can take action even if it's in small ways!

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