Fair trade dark chocolate is extra good for you—and for farmers, too!

You love dark chocolate, and you’ve heard it’s got some pretty amazing health benefits. But did you know that the goodness extends even further? Read on to learn how fair trade dark chocolate is a win-win for both you AND for the farmers whose knowledge and labor make it possible.

How do I know it’s fair trade dark chocolate?

Put simply, it’s dark chocolate if it has a cocoa mass between 50 and 90%. And it’s fair trade if its packaging has our Fairtrade Mark on it! But wait, what exactly is cocoa mass?

Cocoa mass is the portion (expressed as a percentage) of a chocolate bar’s weight that comes from cocoa beans in the form of cocoa liquor or cocoa butter. To the left you can see that Trader Joe’s Fair Trade Organic 72% Cacao Belgian Dark Chocolate Bar has a cocoa mass of 72% and is proudly bearing our blue, green and black Fairtrade Mark.

Dark chocolate is dense with cocoa beans—and a higher concentration of cocoa beans in your favorite chocolate treats is precisely why fair trade dark chocolate is extra good for both you and for farmers.

Let’s take a deep dive into the anatomy of a cocoa pod.

What are the health benefits of fair trade dark chocolate?

Fair trade dark chocolate is good for your personal health and for the health of the chocolate industry, writ large. Let’s unpack why.

fair trade dark chocolate is good for your health

The higher the cocoa mass (that is, the darker the chocolate), the less room there is for other ingredients (namely sugar!), and the more cocoa bean-based health benefits we enjoy:

1. Cocoa beans are dense with flavanols (a specific kind of antioxidant), and flavanols are known to help increase blood flow by relaxing your blood vessels. This increased flow, in turn, provides protection from heart disease and supports cognition (better blood flow to your brain!).
2. Cocoa beans are chock full of important minerals like iron, magnesium, zinc, copper and phosphorus. Did you know that magnesium helps you sleep, zinc bolsters your immune system and phosphorus keeps your bones and teeth in good repair?
3. Dark chocolate is a good source of fiber. No joke—one ounce of dark chocolate gives your body 4 grams of fiber. This is equivalent to the amount of fiber that’s in a 1/2-cup serving of oatmeal!

fair trade dark chocolate is good for the health of the chocolate industry

Do you want a future with chocolate in it? We do, too—but it’s no sure thing! Decades of chronic underpayment have made it impossible for cocoa farmers to invest in the longevity of their farms, and climate change is making it more challenging than ever to cultivate cacao trees. The good news is that Fairtrade farmers have skills to cultivate crops amid an accelerating climate crisis—they simply need funds to implement them. When you choose Fairtrade dark chocolate, you are helping to resource farmers with these funds.

In addition to the selling price that they receive for the sale of their cocoa beans, Fairtrade cooperatives also earn a  Fairtrade Premium which they invest in sustainability projects of their choice. Many farmers have used the Premium to improve their businesses and production, replacing old trees and investing in better facilities for crop collection, storage and transport, or processing. Learn more about other ways that Fairtrade is supporting sustainability in the chocolate industry.

But how is fair trade dark chocolate extra good for farmers?

In short, the production of dark chocolate requires more cocoa beans than milk chocolate.

we return to the concept of cocoa mass

Recall that cocoa mass is the portion of a chocolate bar’s weight that comes from cocoa beans. Dark chocolate has a cocoa mass between 50% and 90%, whereas milk chocolate can have a cocoa mass as low as 10%–which is to say, the darker the chocolate, the more cocoa beans were required to make it! And more cocoa beans sold means greater incomes for cocoa farmers. For Fairtrade cocoa farmers, it also means increased Fairtrade Premium funds.

let’s increase demand for fair trade dark chocolate!

Did you know that in 2023, 711,628 MT of cocoa was GROWN on Fairtrade terms, but only 35% of it was SOLD on Fairtrade terms? This means that although Fairtrade farmers abided by the Fairtrade Standards (a comprehensive set of rules pertaining to environmental, social and economic sustainability), they weren’t able to reap Fairtrade pricing (and Premiums!) on nearly 2/3 of the cocoa they cultivated. Free translation: Fairtrade cocoa farmers are already putting in the work for a more sustainable future, but they’re not getting compensated accordingly!

How do we shift that? We vote with our dollars! When we purchase fair trade dark chocolate, we are telling retailers and brands that we care about environmental sustainability and decent livelihoods. As retailers and brands see fair trade dark chocolate fly off the shelves, they commit to purchasing more of it. Together, we have the power to make fairness the new normal.

statistics sources

• Cleveland Clinic
  • Put simply, it’s dark chocolate if it has a cocoa mass between 50 and 90%.
  • One ounce of dark chocolate gives your body 4 grams of fiber.
  • Milk chocolate can have a cocoa mass as low as 10%.
• Fairtrade International 2023 monitoring data reports
  • Did you know that in 2023, 711,628 MT of cocoa was GROWN on Fairtrade terms, but only 35% of it was SOLD on Fairtrade terms?