cocoa bean production in Samoa, and in 2017 expanded the programme to include New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade. In 2019 Whittaker's admitted that while some bars have ethically sourced cocoa beans, the sugar is primarily sourced from Thailand. Thailand is known to have child labour in the sugar cane industry. In 2020 Whittaker's announced that its 116 products made with Ghanaian cocoa beans would now be 'Rainforest Alliance Certified'. The company also uses small amounts of beans from Samoa and Nicaragua. Apart from being named as New Zealand's most trusted brand, the company has won other awards including 'Exporter of the Year' at the 2021 ExportNZ ASB Wellington Export Awards and Supreme Award in the 2022 Wellington Gold Awards, which are awarded to recognise businesses in the Wellington region. In August 2022 the company released an image of a chocolate bar wrapper which it produced for Māori Language Week, which has the chocolate variety 'Creamy Milk' written in Māori as 'Miraka Kirīmi'. The initiative was met with both praise and hostility from the public. Singer Ed Sheeran visited New Zealand in February 2023 and said via Instagram that he liked New Zealand chocolate. Whittaker's responded by sending Sheeran a block of Creamy Milk with Sheeran's face on the label, calling it the 'Ed Block', then teamed up with Sheeran to auction signed t-shirts and a supply of chocolate to raise funds for victims of Auckland's severe flooding in late January. See also List of bean-to-bar chocolate manufacturers References External links Whittaker's official website List and review of 52 varieties of Whittaker's family blocks, novelty bars and mini slabs Chocolate companies Food manufacturers of New Zealand New Zealand confectionery Food and drink companies established in 1896 New Zealand brands New Zealand companies established in 1896