Palm Oil Free Chocolate

Why is palm oil used in chocolate? 

Palm oil is a vegetable oil made from the fruit of the oil palm tree. While it is not usually used in milk or dark chocolate itself, it is commonly used as an ingredient in the fillings of chocolate bars and boxes.

One of the reasons that palm oil is used in chocolate is because it’s semi-solid at room temperature, unlike other vegetable oils. This means that it can help give it a smooth consistency and prevents the product from melting too quickly. It is also a natural preservative, so its use gives chocolate bars and boxes a longer shelf life.

Companies in many food industries have long favoured palm oil because it is very cheap. Oil palm trees are extremely high yielding, meaning that farmers produce large amounts and prices stay low.  

What is the problem with palm oil in chocolate? 

Since the use of palm oil in food, household and cosmetic products, including chocolates, boomed in the 2000s, it has repeatedly been linked to deforestation and violations of indigenous rights.

Palm oil is mostly produced in Malaysia and Indonesia. In both countries, large areas of tropical rainforest have been chopped down to make space for palm oil plantations. The plantations encroach on local and indigenous communities, with some reporting being violently evicted from their land. These areas also include vital habitats for endangered species like orangutans and Sumutran tigers.

In Indonesia, large areas of forest also grow on swampy peat – which stores huge amounts of carbon. Palm oil producers drain the peat bogs to dry out the land for production, making it very flammable. This leads to huge wild fires, releasing the vast amounts of carbon previously stored, causing major health problems for residents, and destroying unique ecosystems.

While numerous initiatives – like the certification the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil – have been created to tackle the problem, none appear to have resolved issues in the industry.  

Which chocolate bars and boxes contain palm oil?

Many of the best known chocolate bars and boxes contain palm oil – from Galaxy Caramel and Lindt to Nutella and Ferrero Rocher. In fact, the biggest chocolate bar and box brands all use palm oil, including Mars, Nestle, and Mondelez (owner of Cadbury’s).

Many of these companies and brands have faced serious criticisms over their palm oil sourcing. In March 2025, for example, West Papua’s Indigenous people called for a boycott of KitKat, Smarties and Aero chocolate and Oreo biscuits over alleged ecocide in their territory. The campaigners said that the brands’ owners Nestle and Mondelez both source palm oil from West Papua, which has been under Indonesian control since 1963. Thousands of acres of rainforest have been cleared for agriculture in the region, where West Papuans are being forced, with violence, to leave their lands.

Nestle told The Guardian that it had “strict standards towards ensuring a deforestation-free palm oil supply chain. This is through a combination of tools, including supply chain mapping, certification, satellite monitoring and on-ground assessments. Any such allegations are taken very seriously and duly investigated.”

Mondelez and Nestle both score 0/100 in Ethical Consumer’s palm oil rating, while Mars scores just 10/100. 

Does palm oil affect the taste of chocolate? 

No, palm oil has a relatively neutral flavour, meaning that it does not drastically change the taste of chocolates when added. 

Should I buy palm oil free chocolate? 

Many consumers will choose to avoid palm oil altogether due to its major environmental and human rights impacts. Other consumers might be happy to buy from brands that are making a concerted effort to source palm oil ethically, rather than boycotting the product.

Unfortunately, brands can claim to use “ethically certified” palm oil without it providing a guarantee that the product is not tied to deforestation or human rights issues, due to problems with the leading certification the Roundtable for Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO). The most ethical brands will go beyond this, by using only the best RSPO-certified options or by opting for organic and fair trade palm oil in order to guarantee genuinely better practices.

At Ethical Consumer, we have taken the view that avoiding palm oil altogether or choosing products with the very best sustainability certifications are both reasonable responses to a very complex set of issues.

In our shopping guide to chocolate we have rated 31 brands on their palm oil policy - and we give top scores to those that either do not use palm oil or have a genuinely meaningful stance on sourcing it ethically. 

How to avoid chocolate brands that use palm oil

Lots of ethical chocolate bar and box brands will say on their packaging if they’re ‘palm oil free’. Look at the back of the box, or check out the FAQ section on their website, to see what stance they are taking on the issue. 

Below we list companies that make palm oil free options, which are highlighted in our shopping guide to chocolate, and give the palm oil ratings for them and other chocolate brands. 

Our palm oil ratings for chocolate companies

We assessed the palm oil policies of 31 chocolate brands. We highlight companies which are palm oil free, those that are sourcing palm oil ethically, and brands that are not taking a strong stance on palm oil – which you may want to avoid. 

Palm-oil free chocolate bars and chocolate boxes

These companies got our best rating for palm oil sourcing, 100/100,  for being palm oil free companies and not using any palm oil in any of the products they make: 

• '57 Chocolate
• Booja-Booja
• Chocolat Madagascar
• Cocoa Loco
• Fairafric
• MonChoco
• Moo Free
• Ombar
• Paccari
• Plamil
• Seed and Bean
• Vego

Palm oil not in the chocolate but elsewhere in the company

These brands do not use palm oil, but are owned by companies that do use palm oil elsewhere, or lack of policies regarding palm oil despite being in high-risk sectors, in their wider group. These companies scored 70/100.

• Divine
• Guylia
• Love Cocoa
• Montezuma
• Tony’s Chocolonely

H!P Chocolate, Love Cocoa’s vegan brand, is palm oil free apart from its products containing cookies and pretzels.

Hotel Chocolat is also palm oil free, apart from a biscuit included in its “dipping adventure” product. However, it is owned by Mars Inc. which uses significant amounts of palm oil across its product range.

Palm oil used

These companies scored 60/100:

• Ritter Sport
• Lindt
• Ferrero Rocher
• Kinder
• Thorntons

These companies scored 20/100:

• H!P
• Love Cocoa
• Hotel Chocolat

These companies scored 10/100:

• Mars brands
• Nestle brands

These companies scored 0/100:

• Bournville
• Cadbury
• Green & Blacks
• Mondelez brands

Additional research by Clare Carlile.