UPDATED: TheChocolateLife :: LIVE – Deconstructing “Transparency” Reports

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It came to my attention as I was preparing for the Constructing Transparent Transparency Reports that I drew some incorrect assumptions about the two Dandelion reports I covered in the live stream. It turns out that because of a technical problem displaying the PDF in Safari, pages were missing in the 2020-2021 report. Except they were not missing, they were just not being displayed.

As a result, I drew some incorrect conclusions and made some assertions there were, in fact, incorrect. I acknowledge that I was in error and I apologize to Dandelion – and to my followers and members – for this mistake. I do my best to report accurately and fully and I did not do my due diligence in this case. I know, now, what went wrong, and will endeavor never to make this same mistake again.

It should come as no surprise that not all reports are created equally.

And, often, so-named transparency, sourcing, or annual reports appear to be carefully crafted to present a narrative that is quite opaquely drawn. It takes some experience and skill to look between the lines behind some reports, to see what’s really going on.

Which is what we’ll be doing in this episode of TheChocolateLife::LIVE, comparing examples from Uncommon Cacao, Taza, Dandelion, and Tony’s Chocolonely, and the first topic I will address is what I think it means to be “transparent.”

The following resources informed the discussion:

Uncommon Cacao

Taza Chocolate

2021 Transparency Report
TAZA CHOCOLATE DIRECT TRADE CERTIFIED CACAO We are chocolate pioneers. Taza makes stone ground chocolate that is seriously good and fair for all. From farm to factory, we do things differently. We do things transparently. It starts with Taza Direct Trade. We said no to opaque supply chains and low-…
As near as I can tell, there is no PDF version of these reports.
Origins
Details about how each producer ferments, dries, and gets their cocoa products to Dandelion Chocolate.
Links to all of Dandelion’s sourcing reports are on this page.
2020 Partner Report
ABOCFAGhana In Suhum, Ghana the pandemic-related lockdown eliminated ABOCFA’s meetings and training activities, and the usually large annual general meeting of farmers was held at the community level. There were several supply chain disruptions preventing product from getting to port, but during t…
2020 Partner Report
PISAHaiti Thankfully, the region where PISA is located seems to have been spared a major COVID-19 outbreak to date. But demand for their high-quality, organic Haitian cocoa was erratic during 2020. At the beginning of the pandemic, small manufacturers who use organic cacao cut back on buying. This…

Dandelion Chocolate

Tony’s Chocolonely

Tony’s Chocolonely finds 1,700 CHILD workers in its supply chain
Chocolate brand Tony’s Chocolonely has revealed some 1,701 child labourers helped make its sweets last year, in spite of its goal to help root out exploitation in chocolate production

Mighty Earth/Be Slavery Free (Easter) Chocolate Scorecard

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