The Dark Side of the Chocolate Industry

Introduction  

It’s time we talk about the dark side of the chocolate industry.

First, some context. Cocoa, a fine powder that gives chocolate its signature flavour, is essential to chocolate production.

Cocoa comes from large beans grown on the cacao tree, native to tropical regions of South America. These trees thrive near riparian zones, areas close to large rivers like the Amazon Basin.

Cacao trees are considered a ‘specialist’ species. They’ve evolved to suit narrow environmental conditions: consistent warmth, minimal temperature changes, high humidity, and well-draining, slightly acidic soils rich in organic matter [1].

Because of this, only a few regions globally can support large-scale cultivation. West African countries like Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana produce around 70% of the world’s cocoa [2].

This comes with two major issues: deforestation and vulnerability to climate change.

Deforestation 

Foremost, the mass-cultivation of cacao has resulted in a significant amount of deforestation as large ‘optimal-growth’ areas (which tend to be native-forest) are ‘converted’ (bulldozed) into agricultural land for cacao monoculture plantations. Estimates place cacao-production as responsible for about 1/3rd of the total forest loss within Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana over the last 60 years [3].    

The detriment deforestation has upon our ecological world cannot be understated. Floral species like plants and trees are essential within nutrient cycles and foundational in supporting healthy ecological populations – both of which are cornerstones for ecosystem wellbeing. Flora are known as ‘producers,’ which are the only organism-group capable of producing ‘new’ energy-resources for consumption within an ecosystem via photosynthesis. Herein, plants utilise sunlight and otherwise-unavailable resources (like nutrients from deep within the soil and carbon from the atmosphere) to produce plant tissues (like leaves for herbivores) offering food for local fauna (as well as the oxygen we breathe!).   

In addition to this essential role, flora also improve ecosystem biodiversity, for example, by offering unique niches that organisms can safely exploit or occupy and providing breeding grounds imperative to countless organism’s reproductive lifecycles. Floral communities also help mitigate extreme weather events like floods, heatwaves, and droughts. This is because flora improve soil water-retention, stabilise local temperatures via transpiration, and absorb solar-energy in photosynthesis. Consequently, deforestation can have drastic impacts on the wellbeing of our ecosystems, including damaging soil compositions, increasing erosion, potentiating abnormal weather events and causing significant reductions in animal biodiversity.   

Climate Change  

Unfortunately, deforestation also contributes to another critical challenge for the future of chocolate: climate change.  

Noting an additional benefit of natural-growth forests is their capacity to capture large amounts of carbon within photosynthesis, our emissions result in a ‘greenhouse’ effect wherein atmospheric carbons act as a ‘blanket’ that traps solar radiation (energy) within our planet (think solar Dutch-oven). This increases global temperatures and destabilizes natural climate fluctuations, thus disrupting natural rainfall patterns and contributing to more frequent and severe weather events, like drought, flood and heatwaves.   

Now remember how I said cacao trees are a specialised species that only grow within very specific environmental conditions… well that means the viability of cacao-production is particularly vulnerable to the impacts of human-made climate change – all of which impact the viability of cacao-cultivation. This is particularly threatening to the chocolate-industry given its dependence on coco supplies from equatorial regions expected to be most impacted by climate-change.   

Furthermore, these changes that would normally occur in a consistent, directional manner over centuries (allowing ample time for organisms to evolve or translocate) are happening rapidly and unstably, and many species (our beloved cacao included) are incapable of adapting fast enough to survive these changes. Indeed, this mightn’t be far off given predictions that cacao viability in West Africa could decline as soon as 2030 [4].   

Less land capable of mass-cultivation means less cocoa available to chocolate producers, and this means greater production expenses, and ultimately, a more costly price for chocolate consumption.  

And speaking of costs… what about the cost of chocolate-related plastic-pollution!  

That’s right! The use of plastic packaging within the chocolate industry is chronic.   

Not only does the production of single-use plastic wrappers release emissions which further contribute to climate change, but the plastic-pollution associated with this waste product has numerous implications upon our ecosystems.   

Plastic is an enduring synthetic material with unnatural chemical properties (like super-strong hydrocarbon chains) that are incredibly resistant to natural decomposition processes and require hundreds of years to degrade under natural conditions. Furthermore, various harmful additives in plastic continue to leech into the environment throughout this process, as plastics break apart into smaller, more volatile microplastics. Unfortunately, these plastics and microplastics can be unintentionally consumed by animals (a common occurrence), leading to nutrient deficiencies and starvation as plastics occupy the limited space within the individual’s stomach. This is especially concerning given a process called ‘bioaccumulation,’ wherein compounds consumed by lower-levels species ‘accumulate’ in greater concentrations within higher-level consumers. Consequently, harmful compounds released from consumed plastics will distribute across entire food-chains, becoming particularly present within higher-level species, like the salmon eaten by humans. Given numerous health and reproductive issues are linked with chemicals found in plastics, this will likely have serious implications for the health and wellbeing of our ecosystems and even ourselves.   

With three confectionary companies being responsible for 19% of all branded plastic found in our environment (Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Nestle, to name and shame) [5], it’s ever more important we do something to mitigate our use of single-use plastics like chocolate wrappers.  

A brighter chocolate-full future  

Ok so just to clarify, Easter is destroying our natural forests, polluting our air, contributing to climate-change and vulnerable to these effects, harming our ecosystems, causing animal deaths and potentiating serious health-problems in humans.  But what can you do? Here’s three things:  

1. Buy chocolates from sustainable companies.   

Ethical chocolate producers are imperative to improving the sustainability of the chocolate industry. Most sustainable practices will be advertised by the companies, however, to avoid greenwashing, look for the “Certified Organic,” “FairTrade,” “Rainforest Alliance,” and “Australian Made” logos – and remember to buy products with plastic-free packaging! Your choice to buy sustainable alternatives demonstrates greater market demand to incorporate ethical practices within chocolate production and strengthens the power of competitive ethical chocolate-producers within the market.   

2. Speak up against unsustainable chocolate practices  

Having your voice heard has never been easier (or more important!). Use your voice for good by contacting reporters, political representatives and company representatives to inform them about the unsustainable practices of the chocolate industry and your desire (or perhaps demand) for greater sustainability and accountability within the chocolate production chain.   

3. Stay informed and spread the word  

Having a role in inspiring a wider dialogue about the impacts of chocolate can have a hugely beneficial effect. So, remember to have a conversation with your friends and family this easter, inform them of the dark side of easter and help them towards a sustainable easter experience.  

Read the Chocolate Scorecard

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SOURCES  

1. ICCO (n.d.). “Growing Cocoa.” [Accessed 28/3/2035] Available at https://www.icco.org/growing–cocoa/  
2. Wessel, M., & Quist-Wessel, P. M. F. (2015). Cocoa production in West Africa, a review and analysis of recent developments. NJAS – Wageningen Journal of Life Sciences, 74– 75(1), 1–7. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.njas.2015.09.001  
3. National Wildlife Federation (n.d.) “Cocoa and Deforestation.” [Accessed 26/3/2025] Available at https://international.nwf.org/cocoa–and–deforestation/   
4. Confectionary News (2016). “New program to help coca farmers adapt to threat of climate change” [Accessed 1/3/2025] Available at https://www.confectionerynews.com/Article/2016/06/02/Chocolate–firms–to–helphttps://www.confectionerynews.com/Article/2016/06/02/Chocolate-firms-to-help-tackle-impact-of-climate-change-on-cocoa-farms/tackle–impact–of–climate–change–on–cocoa–farms/  
5. Climate Fact Checks (2024). “Plastic pollution: Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Nestle among top polluters, says study.” [Accessed on 2/4/2025] Available at https://climatefactchecks.org/plastic–pollution–coca–cola–pepsico–and–nestle–amonghttps://climatefactchecks.org/plastic-pollution-coca-cola-pepsico-and-nestle-among-top-polluters-says-study/top–polluters–says–study/  

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