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Ghana and the Ivory Coast produce 53%* of the cocoa sold in the world. They rely on child labor to keep costs competitive in the world markets. Most West African cocoa farmers only make $2-$3 per day (same as many coffee plantation workers). The only way they survive is to take their children out of school to work on their farms. The large plantations use child slaves and indentured workers. The children are sold into slavery by their parents or kidnapped in neighboring countries and brought in by human traffickers.
Cocoa produced in Central and South America is less likely to come from slave labor than cocoa produced in the Ivory Coast or Ghana. A good practice to get into is to buy single-origin cocoa products from countries that don't use slave labor. That means paying a premium for chocolate from small companies that can trace the origins of their products, rather than from Nestles, Hershey, Mars, etc.
Similar issues with coffee. Most coffee workers are little more than slaves. Alternatively, small independent importers like Sweet Maria's pay fair prices for their coffee, better than the prices paid for certified "Fair Trade" coffee.
* edited to reflect PoZ's correct number
Last edited by shiny!; November 17, 2014, 03:41 PM.
Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.
The numbers vary according to every site I've checked, but I trust your numbers more than the others. Still, it's an awful lot of children being exploited.
Be kinder than necessary because everyone you meet is fighting some kind of battle.
A regular McDonald's hot chocolate = 402 ml (Canadian milliliters )
The number of regular McDonald's hot chocolates in one barrel = 395.49
Cost of a regular McDonald's hot chocolate = $1.75 (that's Canadian $)
Cost of a regular McDonald's hot chocolate = $1.54 (that's real American $, the kind the rest of the world wants)
Cost of one barrel of McDonald's hot chocolate = US $609.06
Cost of one gallon of McDonald's hot chocolate = US $14.50
And some of you folks think gasoline is expensive?
Starbucks' designer hot chocolate (for the 1%) MUCH dearer.
Ho Ho Ho.
The metric for me is what a pound of Callebaut semisweet (between 60% to 70%) is going for locally. The Wine Library in NJ intermittently offers the 10 lb (?) or whatever it is block normally packaged and sold to bakers, broken down into smaller blocks of around a pound or so, at $8.49 / lb. This is the best (cheapest) way to get my dark chocolate fix.....and also sample a few decent cheeses at their gourmet shop while I am there. Life is still good, but......a pound used to last me two weeks until my wife discovered where I was stashing it.
The metric for me is what a pound of Callebaut semisweet (between 60% to 70%) is going for locally. The Wine Library in NJ intermittently offers the 10 lb (?) or whatever it is block normally packaged and sold to bakers, broken down into smaller blocks of around a pound or so, at $8.49 / lb. This is the best (cheapest) way to get my dark chocolate fix.....and also sample a few decent cheeses at their gourmet shop while I am there. Life is still good, but......a pound used to last me two weeks until my wife discovered where I was stashing it.
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