Kinder

Is Kinder the most ethical and sustainable chocolate?

Kinder is a Nestlé chocolate brand that is listed in The Good Shopping Guide’s Ethical Chocolate Ratings Table. Although Kinder has not yet met our ethical principles, we anticipate that the brand will improve in the future. A brand must comply with a number of different qualities in order for us to award Ethical Accreditation and does very well in some of them. There is, however, still much room for advancement.

For instance, Fairtrade chocolate is currently unavailable. More than ever, the benefits of using ingredients that have been responsibly harvested are known by consumers. Purchasing Fairtrade goods ensures that a fair salary is paid to all those involved in the production process, from start to finish. Like many other Nestlé-owned companies, Kinder does not carry goods that are Fairtrade.

If this company applied for Ethical Accreditation, we would have even more faith in it as The Good Shopping Guide would be able to conduct a more thorough evaluation and give Kinder suggestions for ethical development.

We acknowledge that there is a lot of room for improvement by this brand, but we are confident that this brand can become Ethically Accredited in the future. Find out more about the ethical issues faced by the Chocolate sector and see how other brands score in our Ethical Chocolate Ratings Tables.

What does Kinder do and what is its history?

In the centre of the little Italian town of Alba, in 1968, the Kinder brand’s history begins. The Ferrero company, which is still family-run today, added what would become a well-known brand when Michele Ferrero created Kinder Chocolate. Did you know that the second-largest chocolate brand in the world is, in fact, Kinder? The company’s extensive selection of chocolate goods, which range from chocolate bars to sweets with surprises inside, is currently distributed in 170 countries. Each Kinder toy was first hand-painted after being hand-moulded, and 100 toys were produced annually.

For which criteria does Kinder perform poorly?

Regardless of Kinder’s ranking strongly in many classes within the ethical chocolate brands area, the business still has some issues to address. These are the availability of Organic products, Public Record Criticisms, and Fairtrade product availability.

In 2019, Nestlé announced that it couldn’t guarantee that its chocolate products were free from child slave labour. Nestlé could trace only 49% of its purchasing back to the farm level. The Washington Post noted that Nestlé’s commitment taken in 2001 to eradicate such practices within 4 years had not been kept, neither at the due deadline of 2005 nor within the revised deadlines of 2008 and 2010 and that future goals were not likely to be achieved either.

In what areas does Kinder score well for its ethics?

Kinder does score above our benchmark in imperative categories such as having Vegetarian and Vegan options, an Environmental Report, no known use of Nuclear power or Armaments, and good Animal Welfare documentation. There is no record of Kinder using or associating itself with Nuclear power, ensuring that the purchase of this brand does not support the utilisation of Nuclear power. There is also no record of any negative outcomes associated with Genetically Modified crops or accepting/contributing to Political Donations.

More information about Kinder…

Check out how Kinder scores in relation to other chocolate brands on our Ethical Chocolate Ratings Table. If you own or work for a chocolate brand, why not submit your company or product for assessment and Ethical Accreditation from The Good Shopping Guide?