Labour Lens

Hotel Chocolat

Lacks transparency

Lacks transparency. Publishes some details, but doesn't show its workers are paid and treated fairly.

Chocolate & cocoa

Partly verified: what this means

Based on what Hotel Chocolat publishes, with few independent checks. Researched with AI assistance against published rules. Last researched 3 November 2026 · 7 sources · How we check

British chocolate maker selling boxed chocolates and slabs.

There's no proof the people who grow its cocoa earn more than the legal minimum, which in Ghana is well below a living wage.

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Why it's graded Lacks transparency

Meets 2 of 6 Good requirements, with 1 red flag.Open why it has this gradeClose why it has this grade
  • Not met: Meets 2 of 6 Good requirements.
  • Holds the grade back: It doesn't show that workers are paid a living wage, and isn't certified as working towards one. On Track needs at least one of these.
  • 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.

How grades are decided

Good requirements 2 of 6

  • Not met: Pays a living wage, or holds a strong fair-pay certificationLiving wage: no evidence
  • Met: Respects worker rights
  • Not met: Supply chain independently audited or certified, or at least 80% made in countries with strong labour standards
  • Met: No child or forced labour findings or links
  • 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) where they're a major part of its range

Red flags 1

  • Red flag: No evidence it pays a living wage
Stars it would earn as Good:
StarAwarded for
Finds and fixes problems, or invests in communities

Stars only show on Good companies. About stars

Estimates for its products

Our rules applied to one kind of product at a time, using Hotel Chocolat'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.

  • A product carrying the Fairtrade mark: Good

Holding one? Scan its barcode for an estimate that uses its care label or ingredients.

Where its cocoa is grown

Ghana, St Lucia.Open where it's madeClose where it's made

Hotel Chocolat says which countries its cocoa comes from, but doesn't name the farms or co-operatives.

Where its cocoa is grown, and conditions there
CountryWorker rightsLegal minimum wageForced labour risk
GhanaStrong protectionsWell below a living wageLow
St LuciaWe don't have labour ratings for this country yet.

Evidence

6 things we found and what 4 independent sources say.Open the evidenceClose the evidence

What we found

  • Risk across the industry, not a finding about this company: an estimated 1.5 million children work on cocoa farms in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana, and most cocoa farmers earn well below a living income. (partly offset by certification or direct sourcing)
  • Modern slavery statement
  • Direct trade (self-reported)
  • Invests in worker and farming communities
  • It doesn't show that it checks cocoa farms for child labour and fixes what it finds.
  • 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 Hotel Chocolat buys cocoa mainly from Ghana (Eastern Region) and from Saint Lucia, where it owns the Rabot Estate and buys from a registered farmer group; no shares by country are published. It says Ghanaian farmers in its Gentle Farming programme get above-market prices (about $250 a tonne over the published price in 2022) and that farms are surveyed yearly, but it has no independent certification. Its modern slavery statement mentions child labour monitoring but gives no cases or results. It is almost entirely palm oil free; hazelnuts appear in praline lines with no origin given. Mars has owned it since 2024.

What independent sources say

SourceResultDetails
UK Modern Slavery Statement RegistryStatement filedPublishes a UK modern slavery statement (latest covers July 2023 to June 2024); it says a child labour monitoring scheme (CLMRS) runs in its Ghana cocoa districts but reports no cases or results. View
US Department of Labor goods listsOn the goods listHotel Chocolat's main cocoa origin is Ghana, whose cocoa is on the US Department of Labor child labour goods list. View
Fairtrade (incl. FLOCERT and Fairtrade ANZ)Couldn't confirmHotel Chocolat is not Fairtrade certified; it runs its own Engaged Ethics / Gentle Farming programme instead. View
Chocolate ScorecardAnother organisation's ratingNot ratedHotel Chocolat is not rated in the 2026 (7th edition) Chocolate Scorecard; its owner Mars Wrigley ranked 5th. View

Sources and actions

7 sources, company details, and how to send evidence or a right of reply.Open the sources and company detailsClose the sources and company details

Sources 7

Show all 7 sources
  1. Ethical Consumer – Palm oil free chocolate · search the archive · Materials: Hotel Chocolat is palm oil free apart from one biscuit product
  2. ConfectioneryNews – Mars completes takeover of Hotel Chocolat (2024) · search the archive · Mars completed its £534m acquisition in January 2024
  3. ConfectioneryNews – Hotel Chocolat creates 140 manufacturing jobs in UK (2021) · search the archive · Chocolate manufactured at its Huntingdon factory in Cambridgeshire

Published by Hotel Chocolat or its owner

  1. Hotel Chocolat – Modern Slavery Statement 2023-24 · search the archive · Covers July 2023-June 2024; over 200 suppliers and 2,000+ staff; CLMRS in Ghana; St Lucia cocoa from a farmer group; no results
  2. Hotel Chocolat – Gentle Farming · search the archive · Ghana (Eastern Region) and St Lucia; about $250/tonne above published price in 2022; annual farm surveys; no certification named
  3. Hotel Chocolat – Find out more about our ethical partnerships · search the archive · Ghanaian cocoa from Nkawkaw and Juaso; partners Green Tropics and Cocoa Horizons; no certification claimed
  4. Hotel Chocolat – Why we're not backing down (2025) · search the archive · Cacao from Ghana and Saint Lucia at above-market rates; Materials: hazelnut praline in some bars such as the Better Way Bar, no origin given

Company details

Headquarters
United Kingdom
Employees
About 2,000
Last researched
3 November 2026
Cite this page
Labour Lens, "Is Hotel Chocolat ethical? Labour rating", https://www.labourlens.net/brand/hotel-chocolat, 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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Grades are opinions based on the evidence listed here. Send us evidence, or a right of reply if you represent Hotel Chocolat.

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