Green & Blacks

How ethical and sustainable is Green & Black’s? 

Green & Black’s, owned by Mondelēz, is found in The Good Shopping Guide’s Ethical Chocolate Rating Table. Green & Black’s fails to meet our ethical benchmark but we hope that it will progress in the future and meet the benchmarks we have set out.

For more information on the chocolate industry visit our article on ethical chocolate and view other brands in our Ethical Chocolate Rating Table.

What does Green & Black’s do?

Green & Black’s was founded in London in 1991 by a husband and wife with a focus on creating organic chocolate. Find out more about its story and its aim to become the best Fairtrade chocolate brand…

The brand predominantly sells organic chocolate in various degrees of intensity and darkness, but they also offer hot chocolate and ice cream options. In 2005 it was bought by Cadburys, who pledged to run it as a separate business. Green & Black’s was then later transferred to the parent company Mondelēz when it bought Cadbury in 2010.

For which criteria does Green & Black’s perform poorly? 

The biggest issues for Green & Black’s ethical performance lie with its parent company. Mondelēz has donated thousands in past years towards US political parties and also suggests the usage of GMOs in its products, resulting in a bottom rating for Political Donations and Genetic Modification.

The company also scores poorly in our Animal Welfare research category as Mondelēz allows animal testing when required by law and is doing nothing to combat poor standards within its supply chain.

In what areas does Green & Black’s score well for its ethics?

Green & Black’s provides chocolate that is certified by the Fairtrade Foundation and the brand’s main focus is producing certified organic chocolate. Green & Black’s therefore receives a top rating for the Fairtrade and Organic categories.

How can Green & Black’s brand improve its ethical rating?

The Good Shopping Guide uses three different criteria to determine a brand’s ethical rating; the score is determined by how a brand treats and considers the Environment, People and Animals; read more about our methodology here.

In order for Green & Black’s to improve its ethical rating and be on track to gaining Ethical Accreditation, it must tackle the issues within its parent company and improve transparency about the impact that Mondelēz has on its business practices.

Instead of purchasing from Green & Black’s, we recommend other chocolate companies such as Seed & Bean, Alter Eco and Raw Living.

Contact us to learn more about Ethical Accreditation, or complete our Free Initial Assessment form.