When you do your grocery shopping, you probably make healthy and where possible ethical choice as you choose your items. It’s certainly becoming easier to do so, with dedicated sections in many supermarkets and independent grocers for the healthy shopper.
But when it comes to Easter, sometimes we can get distracted from our usual shopping standards with the blinding sight of shiny, fun shaped, and let’s face it, the gimmicky world of Easter eggs. These days it’s not just eggs and bunnies either. You can pretty much find chocolate in any shape or form, from unicorns and frogs to dinosaurs and French bulldogs wearing sunglasses, you name it, you can find it.
When you choose your Easter eggs each year, do you check the ethical credentials of the suppliers before you buy? More often than not, because these chocolate treats are intended for the kids, their interests and favourite brands can be driving factors when it comes to the final decision. Yet many of the big brands are well known for not being particularly ethical, so what can you do to buy ethical Easter chocolate this Easter?
Make Your Own
If you love to know what goes into everything that you eat, why not make your own ethical Easter chocolate treats? You can choose your favourite ethical chocolate brands, melt them down and pour them into Easter themed chocolate moulds. You can find a huge range of Easter themed chocolate moulds online, such as these cute Easter egg moulds from Spotlight or these large 3D bunny moulds from the Easter Egg Warehouse. If you want to add an Australian slant to your Easter celebrations, check out this gorgeous bilby chocolate mould too!
Choose Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance or UTZ
If you do want to buy chocolate for Easter, whether for yourself or as a gift, read the labels before you buy. Look for the usual ethical standards – Fairtrade, the Rainforest Alliance and UTZ certifications all mean that the products you’re buying are in fact ethically made and/or sourced.
Go Palm Oil Free
Palm oil is one of the worst culprits when it comes to ethical food production. You only have to watch documentary’s like Leonardo diCaprio’s Before The Flood, to realise what kind of mass destruction the palm oil industry is having on our planet. Read the labels and if palm oil is listed as an ingredient, put it back on the shelf. The only way to stop this industry from destroying more and more of our rainforests is by sending a message to these brands that we do not want these products.
Go Dairy Free
The dairy industry is well known to be one of the least ethical and sustainable practices when it comes to food production. Choosing dairy free Easter eggs this Easter means that you won’t be contributing to this cruel industry. Dark chocolate usually has no dairy in it so just look for dark chocolate options when shopping for your Easter treats. Plus, dark chocolate has been found to be high in antioxidants and in moderation can actually be good for you – it’s a win-win situation!
Which Brands?
So which brands are among the most ethical when it comes to Easter eggs? According to Shop Ethical, some of the highest rated brands in Australian include Haigh’s, Chocolatier, Sweet William and Pana Chocolate. The big players including Cadbury’s, Nestle and Mars scored the worst in this table, however, they are starting to make changes to their practices to try and address some of the ethical issues they are facing. The question of whether that’s enough is up to the consumer – that’s you.
What Easter eggs are you choosing this year? Or are you going to make your own? Let us know in the comments.
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