We want to keep celebrating World Chocolate Day for years to come. But for chocolate to have a sustainable future, chocolate needs to change now.

We can all do our bit to make that happen. By choosing Fairtrade and sharing your support, you’re showing the huge public demand for fairer chocolate. Let’s show why millions of us choose Fairtrade everyday. Because we want chocolate that means fairer pay, more women’s rights, action on climate change and more power in the hands of cocoa farmers.

Cocoa farmers are already using the power of Fairtrade to lead the change we need to see in chocolate. We need to convince more shoppers, businesses and politicians to do the same.
‘We have the knowledge, we have the good practices… but we need some funds to adapt to climate change.’ Benjamin Franklin Kouamé, Fairtrade Cocoa Farmer and Chair of Fairtrade Africa, speaking at COP26 UN climate summit. Farmers like Benjamin are using the extra money and power Fairtrade can generate not just to take on climate change, but also to take on the growing global cost-of-living crisis.

With lots of low-cost Fairtrade chocolate options, choosing Fairtrade doesn’t need to be more expensive. But choosing Fairtrade does mean a fairer deal for cocoa farmers on extremely low incomes. Rising costs for essentials like food risk pushing cocoa farmers – often already earning as little as 74p per day in Côte d’Ivoire – into even more extreme hardship. That’s why now is the time to shout even louder about the great range of Fairtrade options available, and the real difference they can make.

You are a big part of the reason why there’s so much Fairtrade chocolate around. Decades of public demand means countless varieties of Fairtrade chocolate – from milky to dark, vegan to fruit-filled – are available everywhere from supermarket own-brand ranges to corner shops and Fair Trade stores.

So what’s next for Fairtrade campaigning on changing the chocolate for the better? One of the exciting grassroots campaigns we heard about during the session was the Chocolate Has A Name project. Aiming to increase access to education and training for cocoa farming communities in Ghana, the project is being led by Ghanian diaspora community group Africaniwa and the Fairtrade National Campaigner Committee (NCC). We in Guernsey are pleased to play our part in supporting this exciting venture.

Changing chocolate for the better isn’t easy. But your commitment to Fairtrade has played a real part in the progress we’ve made so far, and strenghens our hope for a fairer future.

Whatever chocolatey Fairtrade favourite you choose to pick up today, thank you.