Côte d'Or
Lacks transparency. Publishes some details, but doesn't show its workers are paid and treated fairly.
Last researched 3 November 2026 · 8 sources
Belgian chocolate brand known for its elephant logo and tablets.
Côte d'Or is rated as part of a company that got the Bad Egg award in the 2026 Chocolate Scorecard.
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Why it's graded Lacks transparency
- Not met: Meets 1 of 6 Good requirements.
- Holds the grade back: It has 2 red flags: no evidence of a living wage and a failing or very low rating (Chocolate Scorecard Bad Egg award in 2026, for the company it's rated with). Two or more red flags means a poor grade.
- It isn't Harm on record, because there's no serious confirmed problem on its record.
- Lacks transparency is still a poor grade: in supply chains like this, workers who can't be seen to be treated fairly are usually underpaid or unprotected.
Good requirements 1 of 6
- Not met: Pays a living wage, or holds a strong fair-pay certificationLiving wage: no evidence
- Not met: Respects worker rightsJudged on where its cocoa is grown: worker rights are poorly protected in Ecuador, Cameroon and Nigeria.
- Not met: Supply chain independently audited or certified, or at least 80% made in countries with strong labour standards
- Met: No confirmed child or forced labour findings or linksUnconfirmed reports of child labour are listed below. They don't affect the grade.
- Not met: Names the factories or farms that make its products, or is fully certified by a scheme that holds and audits that list
- Not met: Finds and fixes child labour on cocoa farms (Fairtrade, Fair for Life or its own published monitoring), and traces other high-risk ingredients (hazelnuts and palm oil) where they're a major part of its rangeNot traced or certified: hazelnuts
Red flags 2
- Red flag: No evidence it pays a living wage
- Red flag: Failing or very low score on an independent rating: Chocolate Scorecard Bad Egg award (2026, the company it's rated with)
| Star | Awarded for |
|---|---|
| Finds and fixes problems, or invests in communities |
Stars only show on Good companies. About stars
Where its cocoa is grown
These are its parent group's cocoa origins across all its brands; Côte d'Or doesn't say where its own cocoa is grown. The rest is shown as where cocoa is usually grown.
| Country | Worker rights | Legal minimum wage | Forced labour risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Côte d'Ivoire | Regular violations | Far below a living wage | Moderate |
| Ghana | Strong protections | Well below a living wage | Low |
| EcuadorUsual for the industry | No guarantee of rights | Well below a living wage | Moderate |
| CameroonUsual for the industry | Systematic violations | Far below a living wage | Moderate |
| NigeriaUsual for the industry | No guarantee of rights | Far below a living wage | Moderate |
| IndonesiaUsual for the industry | No guarantee of rights | Well below a living wage | Moderate |
Evidence
What we found
- Modern slavery statement
- Invests in worker and farming communities
- It doesn't show that it checks cocoa farms for child labour and fixes what it finds.
- Doesn't show where its hazelnuts come from. Hazelnuts are linked to child labour and very low pay on Turkish hazelnut farms, so it can't be graded Good until it traces or certifies them.
- Uses palm oil in only a few products and traces or certifies most of it. That doesn't count against it for Good, but the "Open supply chain" star needs all of it traced, certified or upcycled.
Research notes Côte d'Or carries the Cocoa Life mark; Mondelēz says 100% of cocoa for its chocolate brands went through its in-house Cocoa Life programme in 2025. Cocoa Life is not independently certified, works on a mass-balance basis and runs mainly in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire, but Côte d'Or's origin shares are not published, so Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire are shown without shares. Child labour monitoring covers about 100% of West African Cocoa Life communities, but no counts of cases found or fixed and no farmer income figures are published. Many lines contain hazelnuts, whose origin is not disclosed; some pralines use RSPO-certified palm fat.
What independent sources say
| Source | Result | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Chocolate Scorecard | Problem found | Mondelēz declined to take part in the 2026 Chocolate Scorecard (7th edition) and received its Bad Egg award; it scored 10%, the lowest tier, in 2025. View |
| KnowTheChain | Listed | Mondelēz rose into the top 10 of the 2026 KnowTheChain food and beverage benchmark. View |
| UK Modern Slavery Statement Registry | Listed | Mondelēz publishes an annual group Human Rights Due Diligence and Modern Slavery report adopted by its UK entities. View |
| Australian Modern Slavery Register | Listed | Mondelēz Australia lodges annual modern slavery statements naming West African cocoa as a high-risk area. View |
| US Department of Labor goods lists | Listed | Cocoa from Côte d'Ivoire is listed for child and forced labour and cocoa from Ghana for child labour. View |
| Business & Human Rights Resource Centre | Listed | Tracks a 2023 class action by International Rights Advocates against Mondelēz, Mars and Cargill over child labour on Ghanaian cocoa farms. View |
Unconfirmed reports
Credible reports that haven't been confirmed by a regulator, completed investigation or the company. They're shown for your information and don't affect the grade.
- A 2022 Channel 4 Dispatches investigation filmed children as young as 10 using machetes on Ghanaian cocoa farms in Mondelēz's Cocoa Life programme; Mondelēz rejected any suggestion it benefits from child labour and asked for details to investigate. Source
- In November 2023 International Rights Advocates sued Mondelēz, Mars and Cargill in Washington D.C. on behalf of Ghanaian children who say they worked on cocoa farms; the case remains undecided. Source
Sources and actions
Sources 8
Show all 8 sources
- Mondelēz shows uneven gains on 2025 sustainable sourcing goals (Supply Chain Dive, 2026) · search the archive · 100% of cocoa for Mondelēz chocolate brands via Cocoa Life in 2025; 100% of palm oil RSPO certified
- TV exposé reveals child labour on Mondelēz Cocoa Life farms (ConfectioneryNews, 2022) · search the archive · Channel 4 filmed children working on Ghanaian Cocoa Life farms; Mondelēz said it would investigate
- Selfridges Australia: Côte d'Or · search the archive · Côte d'Or tablets and pralines sold online on Selfridges' Australian site
- Mondelēz International scales up human rights due diligence (June 2026) · search the archive · About 100% of ~2,300 West African Cocoa Life communities covered by CLMRS in 2025; no case counts
- Mondelēz Human Rights Due Diligence and Modern Slavery 2025 Report · search the archive · Group modern slavery statement covering cocoa, hazelnut and palm oil risks
- 2026 sustainable chocolate scorecard released (Baking Business) · search the archive · Mondelēz, owner of Côte d'Or, got the Bad Egg award for declining to take part in the 2026 Chocolate Scorecard
- Albert Heijn: Côte d'Or melk tablet · search the archive · Product listed with Cocoa Life: 'Samen met Cocoa Life bouwt Côte d'Or aan een duurzame toekomst van cacao'
- Auchan: Côte d'Or Mini Bouchée chocolat au lait · search the archive · Ingredients: hazelnuts 7%, almonds 5.5%, vegetable fats (palm kernel, palm)
Company details
- Owned by
- Mondelēz International
- Headquarters
- United States
- Last researched
- 3 November 2026
- Cite this page
- Labour Lens, "Is Côte d'Or ethical? Labour rating", https://www.labourlens.net/brand/cote-d-or, last researched 3 November 2026, accessed [date].
- Method
- Researched with AI assistance against published rules. How we check · What Lacks transparency means
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Something missing or wrong?
Grades are opinions based on the evidence listed here. Send us evidence, or a right of reply if you represent Côte d'Or.