Our Ethics

We work with a variety of third party organisations to establish a strong ethical and sustainable way of business at Conscious Chocolate. 

SOIL ASSOCIATION – This organisation focuses on our ingredients. All of our chocolate is organic which brings with it a wealth of ethical based practices.

https://www.soilassociation.org/

 

SIERRA ORGANIC AND THE RAINFOREST ALLIANCE – this organisation looks at where ingredients come from at it’s source including the staff that work at the farms. The Rainforest Alliance is similar to Fare Trade in that regard.

https://sierraorganic.com/

 

All of our chocolates are vegan, raw, organic and produced in an eco-factory powered by renewable energy. All of our packaging is recyclable or compostable (see packet for details) and we use ZERO plastic (our final use of plastic was tape on our larger boxes which we eradicated last year).

We are really proud of what we’ve been able to achieve to create chocolate on another level and are always striving to improve further.

Is there anything else which may help you be convinced to try our chocolate? Let us know on orders@consciouschocolate.com

Our Packaging

The Conscious Chocolate range is housed in plastic free, recyclable, biodegradable and home compostable packaging. The cardboard we use for the bars to sit in is from Accurate Freeze (brand name) and it is a virgin fibre carton board which is fully recyclable (compliant with standard EN 13430) and biodegradable (compliant with standard EN 13432). The inks are vegetable based and the varnish is water based. The foil block is also recyclable. The whole cardboard pack is home compostable as well. The inner packaging of the bars is a bio-film made by NatureFlex and based strongly on renewable resources (wood-pulp from managed plantations) and are certified to standards that prove suitable for both home composting and to be biodegradable.

Social mission...

The founder of Conscious Chocolate is driven by strong values concerning the environment and the health benefits of an alternative, less processed diet. The intention is that everyone can enjoy Conscious, regardless of dietary requirements and no one is excluded due to a free from need. A priority for us as a company is the ethical sourcing of all our ingredients, and the relationships we hold with our suppliers. We are striving to have an ethical statement for each ingredient we use for every product. The ingredients are always using fair trade where available and our cacao comes from Peru in South America. There is within our business model as desire to ensure the welfare and health of our workforce.

Sustainability Practices

In the factory due to the nature of the ingredients we use, there is no food waste at all. All our ingredients are GMO free. We never have and never will use Palm Oil. All the cleaning products we use are organically certified and of low risk to the environment. We encourage lift sharing or working from home as well as E – meetings as a default where possible which reduces commuting emissions.

Energy Use

Being Conscious about the impact our energy buying choices have on the planet our energy supplier is Ecotricity. This means the whole factory unit is powered by 100% renewable energy sources which includes Offshore Wind (71.5%), Onshore Wind (27.6), Hydro (0.7) and Solar(0.1). This means we are using 100% green electricity and this is also Vegan energy as it is cutting carbon emissions and supporting ethical energy practices. We have no gas supply, which makes us carbon neutral. Water use is minimal within the factory.

Decision Making

The decision-making board is 50% women. We, as a business endorse women and all our employees empowerment; flexible hours to suit child-care for both the men and women in the company as well as opportunities to work from home are a given within our working community. As a small business we are non-hierarchical and make decisions as a collective as well as individuals being able to self-govern. All employees are empowered to express ways of improving all aspects of the business and are valued equally. All employees are paid above the minimum wage and are active in setting goals and targets not only for tasks and work load but for wages too.