NEWS

As you may already know, the chocolate industry has a long and terrible history of using slave labor, including forcing children to work in ways that can harm them. Part of the driving force behind Tangle Chocolate and many other fine chocolate makers is to end such practices. But this issue is more complex and nuanced than it seems at first glance. I recently attended a panel discussion on child labor in west Africa that presented the issue in a cultural context and from the point of view of cacao farmers and the children themselves, and want to share what I learned. 

Have you ever seen a piece of chocolate cake that is so dark brown that it’s almost black, and then been surprised when it didn’t taste as chocolatey as its color led you to believe it would? Or have you perhaps ordered a hot chocolate and had it taste, well, not as flavorful as the hot chocolate you’re used to? It’s possible that the cocoa powder used in these treats was Dutched. What does that mean? How does Dutched cocoa differ from regular cocoa, and when and how is it used?

In December of 2020, The Supreme Court heard a case against chocolate giants Nestle and Cargill brought on behalf of 6 formerly enslaved children from Mali. As reported in our January 14, 2020 blog post, Nestle and Cargill were being sued for aiding and abetting overseas human rights violations using a 1789 law that allows, in some cases, for non-US citizens to seek damages for violations done by US companies overseas. The verdict is in.