Vego
On Track. Pays or is working towards a living wage, with gaps still to close.
Last researched 2 November 2026 · 6 sources
German vegan chocolate brand known for hazelnut bars.
Vego's vegan organic hazelnut chocolate uses Fairtrade certified cocoa, which comes with a minimum price for farmers and audits for child and forced labour.
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Why it's graded On Track
- Not met: Meets 5 of 6 Good requirements.
- Met: No red flags.
Good requirements 5 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 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 listFully certified by Fairtrade, which holds and audits the list of farms. Vego doesn't publish its own.
- 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 rangeNot traced or certified: hazelnuts
Red flags 0
None found.
Stars it would earn as Good
None yet. Stars only show on Good companies. About stars
Accreditations 2
Estimates for its products
Our rules applied to one kind of product at a time, using Vego'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 Vego 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
Vego is fully certified by Fairtrade, which holds and audits its list of farms, but we haven't yet recorded where its cocoa is grown. Until we do, this shows where cocoa is usually grown.
| Country | Share | Worker rights | Legal minimum wage | Forced labour risk |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Côte d'Ivoire | 45% | Regular violations | Far below a living wage | Moderate |
| Ghana | 25% | Strong protections | Well below a living wage | Low |
| Ecuador | 10% | No guarantee of rights | Well below a living wage | Moderate |
| Cameroon | 10% | Systematic violations | Far below a living wage | Moderate |
| Nigeria | 5% | No guarantee of rights | Far below a living wage | Moderate |
| Indonesia | 5% | No guarantee of rights | Well below a living wage | Moderate |
Evidence
What we found
- 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.
Research notes Most Vego products carry the Fairtrade mark, with Fairtrade cocoa, sugar and vanilla making up 57-99% of ingredients depending on the product. Some Fairtrade cocoa and sugar is mass-balanced, meaning it is mixed with uncertified supply. Fairtrade ANZ lists Vego as a Fairtrade chocolate brand in Australia. Not every line carries the mark: the Vego Dark listing has no Fairtrade claim. Products are certified organic (ABCERT, DE-ÖKO-006). Vego does not say where its cocoa is grown or which factory makes the chocolate; it says the recipes were developed with Italian chocolatiers. It publishes no supplier list, prices paid to farmers or child labour monitoring results.
What independent sources say
| Source | Result | Details |
|---|---|---|
| Fairtrade (incl. FLOCERT and Fairtrade ANZ) | Certified | Listed by Fairtrade ANZ as a Fairtrade chocolate brand in Australia. Most products carry the Fairtrade mark, but the Vego Dark listing has no Fairtrade claim. View |
| B Corp directory | Not listed | No B Corp certification for Vego was identified. View |
| Chocolate Scorecard | Not covered | Vego is not among the companies ranked on the Chocolate Scorecard. View |
| Australian Modern Slavery Register | Not covered | No Australian modern slavery statement was identified; Vego's revenue is likely below the reporting threshold. View |
| UK Modern Slavery Statement Registry | Not covered | No UK modern slavery statement was identified; Vego's revenue is likely below the reporting threshold. View |
| US Department of Labor goods lists | Unclear | Vego does not disclose where its cocoa is grown, so it cannot be compared with the US Department of Labor's goods list. View |
| Business & Human Rights Resource Centre | Not listed | No allegations involving Vego were identified. View |
Sources and actions
Sources 6
Show all 6 sources
- Fairtrade ANZ – Fairtrade chocolate brands · search the archive · Vego is listed in Australia for block, snacking and spread chocolate, with a link to the distributor UHP.
- Velivery – Vego Dark Nuts & Berries organic 85g · search the archive · Organic, certified by ABCERT (DE-ÖKO-006); developed with Italian chocolatiers; no cocoa origin given.
- Vegan Food & Living / VeganFTA – Vego launches in the US (2023) · search the archive · Says all Vego products are Fairtrade certified; CEO Jan Niklas Schmidt.
- VegNews – European vegan chocolate brand Vego in US · search the archive · Vego was first developed at the Berlin restaurant Vego Foodworld by founder Jan Niklas Schmidt.
Published by Vego or its owner
- Vego – Homepage (German) · search the archive · Founded in Berlin in 2010; sold in over 12,000 stores in more than 20 countries. Fairtrade cocoa, sugar and vanilla make up 63.6% (Vego), 56.8% (Spread), 71.9% (Vegolino) and 99% (Melts, White, Crisp) of ingredients, with mass balance used for cocoa and sugar. Vego Dark has no Fairtrade statement.
- Vego – Impressum · search the archive · VEGO Good Food GmbH, Berlin, HRB 124698B; managing director Jan Niklas Schmidt.
Company details
- Headquarters
- Germany
- Last researched
- 2 November 2026
- Cite this page
- Labour Lens, "Is Vego ethical? Labour rating", https://www.labourlens.net/brand/vego, last researched 2 November 2026, accessed [date].
- Method
- Researched with AI assistance against published rules. How we check · What On Track means
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