FAQ's

The natural vanilla flavour we use in our chocolate is made using raw materials which are extracted (not synthesised) from natural sources (including vanilla) which are vegan, gluten and allergen free, GMO-free, halal and kosher.

The Natural Vanilla Flavour is not certified organic however, it has been approved for use in certified organic products and complies with the provisions for use of Natural Flavours as established in the Assure Quality Organic Standard under which we are certified.

Trade Aid uses Econic compostable wrappers for our chocolate. Compost trials completed by Econic, have shown that their bags can break down into small fragments in as little as 16 weeks. However, the rate of breakdown will vary depending on the compost environment, temperature and humidity. Therefore, it will likely take longer to break down if you live in a cold climate.

Trade Aid uses Econic compostable wrappers for our chocolate. You can put your used wrappers in your own home compost or worm farm, containing heat, water, oxygen, soil and micro-organisms. They can also be disposed of in a commercial composting facility if you have one in your area. To find out more about the wrappers check out www.econicpack.com.

No, we make our chocolate from cocoa liquor and cocoa butter rather than processing the cocoa beans ourselves. There is a very good reason for this, thecocoa producers we work with are striving to gain a greater share of the value of their product and do this by exporting processed product.  With full control of our supply chain and by buying our beautiful cocoa semi-processed from our trading partners we can help to return the highest value possible to the cocoa growers and trading partners we work with. How great is that?

It’s made right here, with love at The Sweet Justice Chocolate Factory, our fair trade organic factory in Christchurch, New Zealand.

We source cooperatively farmed cocoa from our trading partners in the Dominican Republic and Peru. Our sugar comes from Manduvira, a farmer-owned co-operative in southern Paraguay

We source some of our other ingredients locally including organic milk powder, and salt from Marlborough. The toffee and mint pieces in some of the bars are made from fair trade sugar from our partners Manduvira and Norandino and are then made into sweets locally.

All of Trade Aid chocolate like many other chocolate brands will contain a cocoa % on the label. This refers to the cocoa percentage of the bar (by weight) that is derived from the cocoa bean. The main ingredients in chocolate derived from the cocoa bean are ‘cocoa liquor’ (also known as cocoa mass) and ‘cocoa butter’.

For example, Trade Aids Pure Dark 70% block contains a minimum of 70% cocoa solids, which is made up from cocoa liquor and cocoa butter. The other 30% of the product will be made up from Cane Sugar, Sunflower Lecithin and Vanilla Flavour.

Trade Aid dark chocolate contains no dairy ingredients. However, we do produce milk chocolate at the factory and there is some shared equipment used for processing dark and milk varieties. While a strict allergen management plan is in operation we cannot guarantee that our dark chocolate is completely dairy free. For that reason, all our chocolate displays a ‘may contain: milk’ statement.

Our entire Bar, Block and drops range are gluten free. All our chocolate is tested for the presence of gluten and adheres to the Food Standards Australia New Zealand legislative requirements for food labelling. We also ensure that any new ingredients sourced are tested for the presence of gluten.

Our gifting range chocolate which includes Chocolate Coated Cashews, Chocolate Coated Almonds and Chocolate Coated Raisins are packed on a premise that also handles gluten containing products. For that reason, we do not put a gluten free claim on these products.

Yes. We have started using a new filter paper for our teabags from Tea Promoters India (TPI). Unlike most other tea bags this new material is 100% plant based and contains no polypropylene (used to add strength and sealability) instead using starch-based PLA. Our tea bags have no strings, staples or tags and will break down in commercial composting systems and home worm farms.

This new material has only recently become available and is a certified compostable heat-sealable material combining high performance with special focus on reducing the environmental impact after use. It has been specifically designed to perform at the same high level as plastic based heat-seal material, but with the advantage of meeting the regulatory requirements for composting industrially, and is certified compostable by TÜV Austria with the OK Compost Industrial label.

Some of our items are not available online as they come in variable colours and sizes and we are not able to differentiate them for online customers. They may be available at your local Trade Aid store.