Fair trade chocolate for the holidays: bars, gifts and hot chocolate

December runs on chocolate: a bar in every stocking, a box for the host, and a pot of hot chocolate after skating. For anyone shopping for the holidays, here's what fair trade means for the chocolate you buy, the makers we love, and how to make a really good mug of hot cocoa at home.

What does fair trade mean for chocolate?

Chocolate starts as cocoa beans, the seeds of the cacao tree, and most of the world's cocoa is grown by small-scale farmers, many of them in West Africa. The cocoa trade has long struggled with low prices for farmers, child labour and deforestation. Fair trade is one of the ways chocolate makers and shoppers push back.

Fairtrade certification means farmers' co-operatives are paid at least the Fairtrade Minimum Price for their cocoa, a floor that protects them when world prices fall. On top of that comes a Fairtrade Premium, which the farmers invest in projects of their choosing, from replacing old cocoa trees to schools and health clinics.

The standards also prohibit forced and child labour, encourage democratically run co-ops, and promote sustainable farming. Independent auditors check that they're met, and the cocoa can be traced back to certified co-operatives instead of disappearing into a long, mixed supply chain. When you see the Fairtrade mark on a chocolate bar, the cocoa, and often the sugar, was traded on those terms.

A fair trade chocolate bar tastes the same at first bite. The difference is in who got paid fairly along the way.

Reading a chocolate bar label

Dark chocolate has a higher cocoa percentage, often 50% and up, so it's less sweet and more intense. Milk chocolate has milk powder and more sugar, and often lands around 30% to 40%. Neither is better: choose the one you'll enjoy.

Tony's Chocolonely: big bars with a big mission

Tony's Chocolonely started in 2005 with a single 32% milk chocolate bar in a bright red wrapper, chosen to draw attention to its promise: to end exploitation in the cocoa industry, fighting poverty, child labour and deforestation. Every bar carries that mission on the packaging.

Tony's traces its cocoa from bean to bar, invests in strong farmer groups and builds long-term relationships with its cocoa suppliers in West Africa. On top of the Fairtrade premium, it pays a living income premium, so farmers earn a price they can actually live on. The bars are a generous 180 g, made for sharing.

Peace by Chocolate: a Nova Scotia family story

For nearly 30 years, the Hadhad family made chocolate in Damascus, Syria, and shipped it across the Middle East and Europe. In late 2012 their factory was destroyed in a bombing, and the family fled to Lebanon, where they lived as refugees for three years. Then they were invited to Canada.

With the support of their new community in Antigonish, they rebuilt, and Peace by Chocolate was founded at the beginning of 2016. Their chocolates blend Syrian fillings like nuts, fruit and spices with a lot of East Coast heart, and the company gives 3–5% of its profits to the Peace On Earth Society, a Nova Scotia organization that supports peace-building projects around the world. The family's story has been told in a book and a feature film, both called Peace by Chocolate.

Their Atlantic bars make lovely gifts: the Nova Scotia Bar pairs dark chocolate with Nova Scotia wild blueberries, and the New Brunswick Bar adds maple flakes. They move quickly in December, so check availability online or ask us before you make a special trip.

Co-ops and small makers worth knowing

Some of our favourite fair trade chocolate brands are owned by the people who work there, or are small makers who do every step themselves. They also happen to make delicious chocolate.

Just Us! Coffee Roasters is a worker-owned co-operative right here in Nova Scotia. Jeff, Deb and their partners founded it in New Minas in 1996 after a trip to Chiapas, Mexico, showed them what fair trade could do. Better known for coffee, they also make organic, Fairtrade hot chocolate (more on that below). For a seasonal bar from Hummingbird, the Gingerbread Spice pairs dark milk chocolate with warm holiday spice.

Hummingbird ChocolateGingerbread Spice 60% dark milkA winter favourite, made with organic, ethically sourced cacao from Ghana.Shop →

Organic dark chocolate bars from Alter Eco

Alter Eco makes organic chocolate bars with Fairtrade ingredients, and they're some of the easiest bars to share around a table. The Sea Salt bar is 70% cacao from Ecuador with fleur de sel, made from just four ingredients, and it's vegan and gluten-free. If you like your dark chocolate very dark, the Mint Blackout is 90% cacao with a crisp hint of peppermint.

Stocking stuffers and chocolate gifts

Galerie au Chocolat makes fair trade chocolate in festive shapes that are made for stockings: a solid 80 g gingerbread man in milk chocolate with crisped rice, or dark chocolate with mint. For friends and teachers, their star ornament box is filled with individually wrapped dark chocolate and sea salt snowmen, and it can hang right on the tree. For dairy-free families, the Moo Free advent calendar has organic, vegan chocolate behind every door.

For more gift ideas from local makers, see our Christmas gift guide for Halifax, or browse our Christmas and holiday treats. A hand-poured Nova Scotia candle pairs nicely with a bar, too.

Hot chocolate: cocoa powder, mix or drinking chocolate?

There are three ways into a mug of hot chocolate, and they don't work spoon for spoon in the same recipe.

Just Us! The Classic is a dark hot chocolate mix with real milk chocolate chunks, and the Spicy Mexican brings warming spices to a milk chocolate base. Camino Original Dark leads with cocoa, sweetened with golden cane sugar, for a cup that's more chocolate than sugar. Galerie's Fair Trade hot chocolate isn't a powder at all: it's pure chocolate shaved into fine flakes that melt into hot milk.

Want marshmallows built in? Barú Fluffy Marshmallow Chocolate Powder is an instant hot chocolate with tiny marshmallows right in the mix; just add hot milk or soy milk.

BarúFluffy Marshmallow Chocolate PowderRich chocolate powder with little marshmallows, ready with hot milk.Shop →

How to make hot chocolate from cocoa powder

This recipe makes one mug in about five minutes: 1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 Tbsp sugar, a pinch of salt, 1 cup (250 mL) milk or unsweetened plant milk, and ¼ tsp vanilla.

1. Make a paste. In a small saucepan, whisk the cocoa, sugar and salt with 2 Tbsp of the milk until smooth. This is the secret to no lumps.
2. Add the milk. Gradually whisk the rest of the milk into the mixture and heat gently, stirring, until steaming, about 3–5 minutes. Don't let it boil.
3. Finish and taste. Take it off the heat, stir in the vanilla and pour. Taste before you add more sugar.
4. Top it. Add whipped cream, a few marshmallows or a pinch of cinnamon.

Hosting a crowd? Make a big pot the same way, keep it warm on low, and set out bowls of toppings. Dandies vegan marshmallows are made without gelatin, so everyone can join in.

DandiesVegan campfire marshmallowsNo gelatin, with natural vanilla. Made for hot chocolate and s'mores.Shop →

Questions we get a lot

Is hot chocolate a healthy drink?

It's a cozy treat first. If you'd like a less sweet cup, start with unsweetened cocoa powder and add sugar or maple syrup to taste, or choose a dark, cocoa-forward mix.

What is another name for hot chocolate?

Hot cocoa is the most common one. Drinking chocolate usually means a thicker cup made from melted chocolate rather than cocoa powder.

What is the secret to great hot chocolate?

Whisk the cocoa into a smooth paste with a little milk first, heat gently without boiling, and add a pinch of salt. A square of real chocolate melted in makes it richer.

Is Peace by Chocolate a Canadian company?

Yes. The Hadhad family founded it in Antigonish, Nova Scotia, at the beginning of 2016.

Is the movie Peace by Chocolate a true story?

Yes. The film tells the story of the Hadhad family, from their chocolate factory in Damascus to rebuilding their business in Antigonish.

What's so special about Tony's chocolate?

Tony's exists to end exploitation in cocoa. It traces its beans, builds long-term relationships with its suppliers, and pays a living income premium on top of the Fairtrade premium.

Can you get Tony's chocolate in Canada?

Yes. We carry the big 180 g Tony's Chocolonely bars in store and online, in milk, dark and filled flavours.

Is organic chocolate the same as fair trade?

No. Organic is about how the cocoa is grown; fair trade is about how farmers are paid. Many of the bars we carry, like Alter Eco and Camino, are both.

Fair trade chocolate and hot chocolate are at both stores: 486 Starboard Drive in Bedford and 590 Portland Street in Dartmouth, open seven days. Browse our full hot chocolate shelf online. For the rest of your holiday baking, see our guides to natural sweeteners and bulk spices. In HRM, order by 11 am with Luminate Express for same-day delivery, or choose pickup. Anywhere else in Canada, orders over $80 ship free.

Sources: Fairtrade, Cocoa; Tony's Chocolonely sourcing principles; Peace by Chocolate, Our story; Camino, About; Camino, Fair trade; Just Us! Coffee Roasters, Our co-op; Hummingbird Chocolate, Our story; product labels.