Loving Earth
On Track*. Says it buys directly and pays fairly, but hasn't published proof.
Last researched 2 November 2026 · 10 sources
Melbourne organic brand selling raw chocolate and superfoods.
Loving Earth gets its cocoa from Peru and Mexico, and there's no confirmed labour problem on its record.
* Self-reported. Loving Earth is a small, independent business that says it buys directly from named farms. That usually means better prices for farmers, but it hasn't published what it pays or any independent checks, and there's no way yet to confirm that pay reaches the farm workers who pick the crop. If a labour problem is confirmed, it drops to a poor grade. Why we allow this
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Why it's graded On Track
- Graded On Track on its own word, which the rules allow for a small business built around direct trade.
- Not met: Meets 2 of 6 Good requirements.
Good requirements 2 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 Peru.
- 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
- Met: Names the factories or farms that make its products, or is fully certified by a scheme that holds and audits that listRuns its own factories
- 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 where they're a major part of its range
Red flags 0
None found.
| Star | Awarded 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 Loving Earth'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: On Track, the same as Loving Earth overall, because nothing we know differs between them.
- 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
From Loving Earth's own disclosure: it runs its own factories and says where its cocoa comes from.
| Country | Worker rights | Legal minimum wage | Forced labour risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Peru | Systematic violations | Well below a living wage | Moderate |
| Mexico | Regular violations | Below a living wage | Moderate |
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)
- Direct trade (self-reported)
- Built around direct trade with named farms or producers
- Invests in worker and farming communities
- Owns or runs its own production
- It doesn't show that it checks cocoa farms for child labour and fixes what it finds.
- Built around direct trade with named farms, and graded on its own word. Any confirmed labour problem would move it to a poor grade.
Research notes Loving Earth buys cacao from Asháninka Indigenous growers in Peru's Rio Ene region through the Kemito Ene cooperative, which it helped set up with Rainforest Foundation UK, and it committed in 2017 to buy the whole harvest at prices well above local rates. It does not publish the prices paid, how much of its cacao comes from Kemito Ene, or a supplier list, and its founder has also said cacao is imported from Mexico. Its chocolate is made at its own Melbourne factory and most products are ACO certified organic, but it holds no Fairtrade or B Corp certification and no labour abuses linked to it have been reported.
What independent sources say
| Source | Result | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Fairtrade (incl. FLOCERT and Fairtrade ANZ) | Not listed | No Fairtrade licence identified; the brand does not describe its chocolate as Fairtrade certified. View |
| B Corp directory | Not listed | No B Corp certification identified for Loving Earth. View |
| Australian Modern Slavery Register | Not listed | A small business well below the A$100m threshold, so it is not required to lodge a modern slavery statement and none is listed. View |
| US Department of Labor goods lists | Not listed | Cocoa from Peru and Mexico, the origins Loving Earth names, is not on the US DOL list of goods produced by child or forced labour. View |
| Business & Human Rights Resource Centre | Not listed | No allegations against Loving Earth were identified. View |
Sources and actions
Sources 10
Show all 10 sources
- Good On You / Ethical.org.au – Loving Earth · search the archive · Rated B-; Loving Earth Pty Ltd, private Australian company in Scoresby, no parent company; most products ACO certified organic; no criticisms recorded (updated 2022).
- Export Finance Australia – Loving Earth customer story · search the archive · Founders bootstrapped the business; manufacturing in Melbourne; Scott Fry says cacao is imported from Mexico and coconut sugar from Indonesia; US is the main export market.
- SmartCompany – Loving Earth raises $485,006 via equity crowdfunding (2022) · search the archive · Family-owned, founded 2007 by Scott Fry and Martha Butler; 30 staff, mostly at its Scoresby factory; raised $485,006 from 307 investors; chocolate uses cacao grown by the Asháninka community in Peru.
- Nosh – Bean-to-Bar Brand Loving Earth Expands into US Market (2017) · search the archive · Helped the Asháninka set up the Kemito Ene cooperative with Rainforest Foundation; committed to buy the entire Asháninka cacao harvest at a price significantly higher than local prices.
- Rainforest Foundation UK – Asháninka cocoa growers sign landmark agreement (2017) · search the archive · Kemito Ene, representing hundreds of Asháninka cocoa producers, agreed a 90-tonne organic cocoa export deal made possible partly by its relationship with Loving Earth.
- NESsT – Kemito Ene · search the archive · Kemito Ene in Satipo, Peru has about 360 Asháninka members, is organic certified and pays producers prices above intermediaries.
- The Well Store – Loving Earth Chocolate Caramel · search the archive · Made in Melbourne, ACO certified organic; some ingredients marked direct trade; product copy names Asháninka cacao from Peru.
- Flora & Fauna: Loving Earth, Ethical Chocolate · search the archive · Retailer article on Loving Earth's raw chocolate and its cacao sourcing (lead only).
- CB Insights – Loving Earth · search the archive · Loving Earth listed at angel stage with no acquirer; founded 2007 in Scoresby, Victoria.
Published by Loving Earth or its owner
- Loving Earth: The Asháninka story · search the archive · Met the Kemito Ene cooperative in 2014; bought 10, then 40, then 60 tonnes of Asháninka cacao a year; no share of total cacao or prices given.
Company details
- Headquarters
- Australia
- Employees
- About 30
- Last researched
- 2 November 2026
- Cite this page
- Labour Lens, "Is Loving Earth ethical? Labour rating", https://www.labourlens.net/brand/loving-earth, last researched 2 November 2026, accessed [date].
- Method
- Researched with AI assistance against published rules. How we check · What On Track means
Better-graded chocolate
Something missing or wrong?
Grades are opinions based on the evidence listed here. Send us evidence, or a right of reply if you represent Loving Earth.