My favorite chocolate treat is a delicious Hershey bar. The living conditions of the people who produce the cocoa for my chocolate treat are harsh and inhumane. The people that make this product are not paid sufficient for their time and effort. In most jobs in the United States, benefits are offered to employee as compensation. The people that produce such product do not have this luxury.
The physical work conditions of the workers are specifically inhumane. In that, they are exposed to pesticides without protective gear, work with dangerous tools, and have excessive work hours. They are often discriminated against on the basis of gender and ethnicity. The communities that they are housed lack high quality of education, safe drinking water, and safety. Unfortunately, children are used in the process of making this candy bar.
In order to decrease pay that is issued to the workers, children are recruited and forced to work in abusive and hazardous conditions. The process of making a hershey bar is complex. The process consist of: roasting the cocoa pod, separation of the nib and the shell, fresh milk is added to the unsweetened chocolate, adding sugar, mixing the ingredients, and then molded into a bar. The top three producers of cocoa are Ivory Coast, Nigeria, and Ghana. Once the product is made, it is then shipped to the markets in order to make a profit.
Prices are determined by the demand of the brand the cocoa is being used in. The higher the demand the higher the prices. I bought my hershey bar from nearby stores such as Giant, Eddies, or Family Dollar. There are definitely hidden cost that are not factored in the price that I pay for a Hershey bar. Since, the workers that are responsible of producing the product are not paid sufficiently contributes to hidden cost. Also, the workers are not supplied with benefits such as healthcare which is another contributing factor to hidden cost.