Green & Black's
Good. Shows the people who make its products are paid and treated fairly.
Last researched 2 November 2026 · 7 sources
Mondelēz-owned British organic chocolate brand.
Green & Black's gets most of its cocoa from the Dominican Republic.
Also worth knowing
Its cocoa is Fairtrade certified, which comes with a minimum price for farmers and audits for child and forced labour.
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Why it's graded Good
- Met: Meets all 6 Good requirements.
- Met: No red flags.
| Star | Awarded for | Status |
|---|---|---|
| Pays above a living wage | Not earned | |
| Gives workers a real voice | Not earned | |
| Open supply chain | Not earned | |
| Finds and fixes problems, or invests in communities | Not earned |
3 stars for the first way it goes above and beyond, and one more for each further way, up to 6. About stars
Good requirements 6 of 6
- Met: Pays a living wage, or holds a strong fair-pay certificationLiving wage: strong fair-pay scheme (Fairtrade)
- Met: Respects worker rights
- 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 linksAn unconfirmed report of child labour is listed below. It doesn't affect the grade.
- Met: Names the factories or farms that make its products, or is fully certified by a scheme that holds and audits that listFully certified by Fairtrade, which holds and audits the list of farms. Green & Black's doesn't publish its own.
- 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) where they're a major part of its rangeOnly in a few products: hazelnuts
Red flags 0
None found.
Accreditations 2
Estimates for its products
Our rules applied to one kind of product at a time, using Green & Black's evidence and, where it has product lines, that line's countries. They're estimates: we don't know which factory made any single item.
Chocolate: Good, the same as Green & Black's overall, because nothing we know differs between them.
Holding one? Scan its barcode for an estimate that uses its care label or ingredients.
Where its cocoa is grown
Green & Black's is fully certified by Fairtrade, which holds and audits its list of farms. That covers only part of its range. The rest is shown as where cocoa is usually grown.
| Country | Share | Worker rights | Legal minimum wage | Forced labour risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dominican Republic | Not given | Strong protections | Well below a living wage | Moderate |
| Côte d'IvoireUsual for the industry | 14% | Regular violations | Far below a living wage | Moderate |
| GhanaUsual for the industry | 8% | Strong protections | Well below a living wage | Low |
| EcuadorUsual for the industry | 3% | No guarantee of rights | Well below a living wage | Moderate |
| CameroonUsual for the industry | 3% | Systematic violations | Far below a living wage | Moderate |
| NigeriaUsual for the industry | 1% | No guarantee of rights | Far below a living wage | Moderate |
| IndonesiaUsual for the industry | 1% | No guarantee of rights | Well below a living wage | Moderate |
Evidence
What we found
- Passes the raw-material check for chocolate: finds and fixes child labour on cocoa farms (Fairtrade, Fair for Life or its own published monitoring).
- Uses hazelnuts in only a few products and doesn't show where they come from. That doesn't count against it for Good, but the "Open supply chain" star needs all of them traced, certified or upcycled.
Research notes Green & Black's is an organic chocolate brand owned by Mondelēz International, the maker of Cadbury. Its organic bars are labelled Fairtrade certified, with Fairtrade cocoa, sugar and vanilla, and the pack says its Fairtrade beans come mainly from farmers in the Dominican Republic; some ranges such as the 2017 Velvet Edition used Mondelēz's own Cocoa Life programme instead. Where the bars are made is not stated. Mondelēz declined to take part in the 2025 and 2026 Chocolate Scorecards and got no score, receiving the 'Bad Egg' award both years.
What independent sources say
| Source | Result | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Fairtrade (incl. FLOCERT and Fairtrade ANZ) | Certified | Organic blocks sold in Australia are labelled Fairtrade certified. View |
| Chocolate Scorecard | Listed | Parent Mondelēz declined to take part in the 2025 and 2026 (7th edition) Chocolate Scorecards, got no score and received the Bad Egg award. 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 documentary filmed children as young as 10 harvesting cocoa on Ghanaian farms supplying parent Mondelēz's Cocoa Life programme; Mondelēz said it would investigate (ConfectioneryNews, 2022). Source
Sources and actions
Sources 7
Show all 7 sources
- ConfectioneryNews: TV exposé reveals child labour on Mondelēz Cocoa Life farms in Africa · search the archive · 2022 Dispatches film of child labour on Ghanaian Cocoa Life farms; Mondelēz said it would investigate
- Woolworths: Green & Black's Organic Dark 70% Cocoa Chocolate Block 90g · search the archive · Listed as Certified Organic and Fairtrade Certified; cocoa mass, sugar, cocoa butter and vanilla are Fairtrade ingredients.
- Natural Products Online: Green & Black's drops organic and Fairtrade with new Velvet Edition range · search the archive · Velvet Edition launched in 2017 without organic or Fairtrade labels, using Cocoa Life instead.
- Baking Business: 2026 sustainable chocolate scorecard released · search the archive · Mondelēz, owner of Green & Black's, got the 2026 Chocolate Scorecard's Bad Egg award after declining to take part.
- Sainsbury's: Green & Black's Organic 70% Dark Chocolate 90g (read 18 October 2026) · search the archive · Pack text: 'We buy direct our Fairtrade beans, at a fair price, predominantly from cocoa farmers in Dominican Republic.'
- Scoop: The Lights Came On (Chocolate Scorecard 2026) · search the archive · 7th edition released 7 May 2026; Mondelēz submitted nothing, got no score and a Bad Egg award
- Ocado: Green & Black's Organic Hazelnut & Currant Dark Chocolate Bar 90g · search the archive · One bar in the range contains hazelnuts (12%)
Company details
- Owned by
- Mondelēz International
- Headquarters
- United Kingdom
- Last researched
- 2 November 2026
- Cite this page
- Labour Lens, "Is Green & Black's ethical? Labour rating", https://www.labourlens.net/brand/green-and-black-s, last researched 2 November 2026, accessed [date].
- Method
- Researched with AI assistance against published rules. How we check · What Good means
Something missing or wrong?
Grades are opinions based on the evidence listed here. Send us evidence, or a right of reply if you represent Green & Black's.