Choose a conventional custard cream if you want a vanilla cream sandwich biscuit and Fairtrade cocoa is not a requirement: the reviewed standard products do not list cocoa or chocolate. If Fairtrade certification matters more than the traditional biscuit format, check the current pack for a FAIRTRADE Mark or a Fairtrade Sourced Ingredient mark naming the certified ingredient. Chocolate coating makes cocoa relevant to that check, but does not itself establish Fairtrade sourcing.
If certification is part of your buying decision, look for a claim on the specific biscuit pack. A vanilla custard cream need not contain cocoa, while a chocolate-coated version is not automatically Fairtrade-certified.
If you want a vanilla cream sandwich biscuit for a late snack, compare pack size, declared allergens and the per-biscuit nutrition panel. Check the pack you receive, as ingredients can change.
Choose when: You want a vanilla cream sandwich biscuit and Fairtrade cocoa is not essential.
Bear in mind: The reviewed conventional products do not list cocoa or chocolate, so they do not answer a Fairtrade-cocoa question.
Choose when: You want the coated format and the current pack carries the Fairtrade claim you require.
Bear in mind: Cocoa in the ingredients does not, by itself, establish Fairtrade sourcing.
Choose when: A Fairtrade claim matters more to you than the custard cream format.
Bear in mind: Check the individual pack; a retailer’s wider Fairtrade range does not certify every biscuit it sells.
| Priority | What to check | Your needs |
|---|---|---|
| Fairtrade claim | Look for the mark on the current pack. The Fairtrade Foundation says the classic FAIRTRADE Mark covers ingredients that can be Fairtrade-certified; a Fairtrade Sourced Ingredient mark identifies a named certified ingredient. | If certification is essential to my choice, I need to know which product or ingredient the claim covers. |
| Biscuit format | Read the product name and ingredients for vanilla filling, chocolate coating and cocoa. Marks & Spencer lists cocoa ingredients in its milk-chocolate-coated custard cream; the reviewed standard custard creams do not list cocoa or chocolate. | Am I after a familiar vanilla custard cream, or do I specifically want a chocolate-coated biscuit with a cocoa sourcing claim to check? |
| Allergens and portion | Check the current allergen declaration and compare nutrition per biscuit alongside the amount you plan to eat. The reviewed Tesco and Asda custard creams list wheat and milk-related ingredients. | Wheat or milk ingredients could rule out a biscuit for me. For a late snack, I also want to read the figures for the number of biscuits I would eat. |
A chocolate-coated biscuit can contain cocoa without carrying a Fairtrade claim. The Fairtrade Foundation distinguishes its classic FAIRTRADE Mark from a Fairtrade Sourced Ingredient mark for a named ingredient.
Check the current pack for the relevant mark and, where an ingredient is named, read which one it covers.
The reviewed standard custard creams are vanilla-style cream sandwich biscuits and do not list cocoa or chocolate. Fairtrade cocoa is therefore not a useful way to compare those particular products.
Decide whether you want the conventional biscuit or a chocolate-coated variant before checking cocoa sourcing.
Sainsbury’s and Crawford’s product information discusses palm-oil sourcing. That is distinct from a Fairtrade claim for the biscuit or a named ingredient.
Read each claim on the exact product separately rather than treating a sourcing statement or retailer category as certification of the biscuit.
These product examples illustrate what to compare on a current pack; a brand name alone does not establish Fairtrade certification.
Tesco describes its 400g own-label custard creams as sandwich biscuits with a vanilla-flavour filling.
Asda’s 400g own-label custard creams have a vanilla-flavour filling.
Sainsbury’s lists a 200g conventional custard cream.
Tesco describes Crawford’s 300g custard creams as sandwich biscuits with a vanilla-flavour filling.
A UK wholesale listing describes McVitie’s 300g Custard Creams as vanilla-flavour cream sandwich biscuits.
M&S lists both an Extra Cream Custard Cream and a milk-chocolate-coated custard cream.
This 125g gluten-free custard cream is an option if you want the conventional biscuit format for a midnight snack. Check its current pack if a Fairtrade claim is part of your decision.
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For a midnight custard cream snack where gluten-free labelling matters, this is a 125g pack. Check the current pack for its ingredients, allergens and any Fairtrade mark.
Not as a cocoa-specific comparison for the reviewed conventional products. Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s, Crawford’s and McVitie’s describe vanilla-style custard creams whose disclosed ingredients do not include cocoa or chocolate. If certification matters to you, check for an applicable mark on the actual pack.
No. Cocoa is an ingredient to check, not proof of how it was sourced. The M&S chocolate-coated variant lists cocoa ingredients; look on the current pack for a relevant FAIRTRADE Mark or a Fairtrade Sourced Ingredient mark naming cocoa before treating it as a Fairtrade choice.
Read the allergen declaration on the pack you receive. The reviewed Tesco and Asda custard creams list wheat and milk-related ingredients, but a different product or changed recipe needs its own label check.