Here we are in April and it’s Easter very soon!
For many Kiwis that means it’s time for chocolate eggs, bunnies, and other delicious cocoa treats.
But did you know that at least 20% of the global cocoa workforce are children, and that cocoa produced by kids is likely in most of the Easter eggs you’ll find in Aotearoa this Easter? Children who work long days in very harsh conditions rather than going to school. The sugar used can also be a concern, with child and forced labour common in the industry.
If this bothers you and you’d like to support better practices, you may be wondering which chocolates to buy. Good news is there are certifications that can help us when shopping this Easter.
We recommend looking for these logos:
Fairtrade checks both the cocoa and sugar supply chain for child and forced labour, and provides significantly better conditions for cocoa farmers including higher income. (In some case you may see the white Fairtrade Cocoa logo, this means only the cocoa supply chain was checked.) Rainforest Alliance checks the cocoa supply chain for child and forced labour and supports farmers with small premium.
If you’re interested in why we consider these certifications reliable, see our Cocoa and Chocolate buying guide.
So get Egg-cited! We’ve put together a handy guide and there are lots of options available – from eggs to bunnies, to cheap options for the kids, fancier ones for gifts, and vegan choices.
See below for help finding everything you need this Easter. And, if you’d like to help spread the word, check out our full set of Easter resources.
What to look for
This list starts with options where both the cocoa and sugar are certified, followed by where only the cocoa is certified.
Jump to your favourite brand using the links (in the Table of Contents) or scroll through the full list.
Table of Contents
Note there’s been a few changes this year. Due to a change in certifications used, we are no longer including Ferrero Rocher and Kinder products on the list. We’ve also previously included Park Avenue licensed character products (Barbie, Hot wheels, Minions etc themed chocolates), but haven’t seen any of these using Rainforest Alliance certified cocoa this year. However we do have a range of Bluey (popular children TV character) products to recommend this time.
So despite the loss of some favourites there are still lots of great options from a range of brands. Check out the list below.
Easter treats with certified cocoa & sugar
Tony’s Chocolonely
Certification: Fairtrade cocoa and sugar (also any other “risky” ingredients such as vanilla essence are certified too)
Products available:
Where to buy: At Farro or Ballantynes, in store and online
Bennetto
Certification: Fairtrade cocoa and sugar (also any other “risky” ingredients such as vanilla essence are certified too)
Product available: Easter Gift Pack of 3 Bars
Bennetto also have their Easter Gifting envelopes available separately (in a pack of 12), which you can then put any Bennetto chocolate blocks in yourself.
Where to buy: Online
Make your own chocolate coated Marshmallow eggs
We aren’t aware of any marshmallow eggs with certified chocolate and sugar however they are easy to make yourself using certified chocolate and sugar from the supermarket. Making your own also gives you more options for small eggs with flavoured fillings.
See recipes for:
Easter treats with Fairtrade certified cocoa
Guylian
Certification: Fairtrade cocoa
Products available: Easter egg shaped tin filled with pralines
Where to buy: The Warehouse
Easter treats with Fair for Life certification
La Petite
Certification: La Petite don’t use one of the certifications previously mentioned, but do use Fair For Life certified cocoa. This is a European certification that we rarely see in New Zealand, however we feel it is very similar to Fairtrade and consider it a reliable slave-free certification.
Products include:
- Easter eggs – 8x mini praline eggs (dark or milk chocolate) and boxed mix of eggs (6 or 12)
- Easter bunny or hare – Marshmallow bunnies and Benjamin the Hare (milk or dark chocolate)
- Easter chicks – 3x Baby chicks and Henny Penny the Chick (milk or dark chocolate)
- Easter hens – Harrier the Mama Hen and Miss Daisy the Hen
- Chocolate bars – Hot Cross Bar milk chocolate and dark chocolate, strawberry lime bunny bar
- Set of 2x Hazelnut Praline & Chocolate Marshmallow eggs inside real egg shells (Note the cocoa paste and cocoa butter used is certified, but the cocoa powder is not).
Where to buy: Online, or at their shop in Wellington, and various boutique retailers.
Easter treats with Rainforest Alliance certified cocoa
Woolworths gluten-free Hot Cross Buns
Certification: Rainforest Alliance cocoa
A new addition to our list this year! Woolworths’ gluten-free hot cross buns have Rainforest Alliance cocoa certification.
Where to buy: Woolworths
Nestlé range
Certification: Rainforest Alliance cocoa
Note some Nestlé products don’t display the Rainforest Alliance (RA) logo and instead have a statement on the packet saying they ‘work with’ RA. We have checked and that does mean that the cocoa is RA certified.
Products include:
Nestlé usually has various chocolates and confectionary across their brands (e.g. Smarties, After 8, KitKat, Milky Bar, Aero, Allens).
This year we’ve seen:
- Easter eggs – Allens boxed eggs (freckles and jaffas), Milkybar small egg, KitKat mini eggs, After 8 mini eggs, Aero mini eggs, Smarties mini eggs, mixed mini eggs
- KitKat individual bunny and share pack
- Kit Kat 18 hot cross buns flavoured bars
- KitKat and Allen’s Mini Bunny Hut
There may be other products also available in store.
Where to buy: Kmart, supermarkets, The Warehouse, or Cracker Jack.
If Nestlé itself is a concern, see here why we consider it generally OK to buy from Nestlé these days.
Waikato Valley
Certification: Rainforest Alliance cocoa
Products include:
- Mini milk chocolate eggs
- Easter packs – Fun mixed pack and Easter hunt pack
- Hollow egg
- Hollow eggs – with inclusions e.g. mint balls, scorched almonds, licorice allsorts, chocolate marshmallow fish, chocolate buttons, gummy glow worms
- Hollow eggs with various flavours – pina colada, coffee,
- Hollow eggs in fun shaped boxes – T rex and Unicorn
- Bunnies – large (milk and popping candy) and small
- Squishy Easter toys with egg pack
Where to buy: The Warehouse
Bluey branded chocolate
This collection of milk chocolate eggs is designed for small children who are fans of popular TV character Bluey.
Certification: Rainforest Alliance cocoa
Products include:
Where to buy: Kmart
Chocolatier
Certifications: Rainforest Alliance cocoa (the certification logo is not on Chocolatier’s products, but we know from their website they use Rainforest Alliance cocoa).
Products include:
- Enchanted box set of 6 milk and white flavoured eggs
- Enchanted box set of 6 milk, white and dark flavoured eggs
- Eggsellence egg cookie crumble
- Bubble O’Bill hollow egg
Where to buy: Woolworths
Nomo (allergy-friendly, dairy-free & vegan)
NOMO chocolate is all free from dairy, gluten, eggs and nuts;
Certification: Rainforest Alliance cocoa (the certification logo is not on NOMO’s products, but we know from their website they use Rainforest Alliance cocoa).
Products include:
- Bunnies – individual or share pack
- Egg with lolly
- Eggs with mini bars – Caramel and Creamy Chocolate
Where to buy: The Warehouse, supermarkets and Warehouse stationery
Moo Free (dairy-free & vegan)
Certification: Rainforest Alliance cocoa (the certification logo is not on Moo Free’s products, but we know from their website they use Rainforest Alliance cocoa).
Products include:
- Bunny
- Mini Easter egg
- Mini egg shaped chocolate bar
- Small rice milk egg
- Egg-hunt sets of Easter eggs
- Eggs in various flavours – bunnycomb, rocky road,
- Easter egg and bar/packet sets – moofreeas, cookie crunch
Where to buy: Vegan & organics stores
Nice (some products)
Certification: Some Nice products use Rainforest Alliance cocoa. Look for the certification logo on the packaging.
Products we’ve seen with the certification logo:
- Hollow bunny with marshmallow features
- Hollow bunny with 2 designs
- Easter hunt bag with eggs
- Chocolate bunny decorating kit
Where to buy: The Warehouse
Kmart own brand (some products)
Certification: Some Kmart products use Rainforest Alliance cocoa. Look for the certification logo on the packaging.
Products we’ve seen with the certification logo: Easter eggs share pack – solid milk or caramel crunch milk
Amongst the large variety of Kmart own brand Easter themed products, we only found these two products with Rainforest Alliance certification on them. However there may be other options in store depending which branch you go to. Look out for the Rainforest Alliance logo.
Where to buy: Kmart (stores or online)
Windel (some products)
Certification: Some Windel products use Rainforest Alliance cocoa. Look for the certification logo on the packaging, it could be on the label like in this example.
Products we’ve seen with the certification logo:
- Easter bunny music box – with chocolate eggs, bunny and wrapped sweets inside
- Easter mushroom music box – with gummies and assorted chocolates
Where to buy: Ballantynes in their Christchurch store, or online (however it’s not visible on the website which ones are Rainforest Alliance certified, so may be best to message/phone Ballantynes before you buy online to be sure).
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We hope the above helps! Have a great Easter :)