Their response (received within about twenty minutes)
...We use two different chocolates to make our products. One is 72% cocoa mass and is certified Fair Trade. It is used exclusively in our Cocoa Loco and Rosemary, Baby bars. It also makes up between 25% and 50% of the mix for our other flavours. The other chocolate is 58% cocoa mass and is not Fair Trade. Since 2007 we have been able to source some of our inputs as certified Fair Trade. This is not an issue of accessibility but of quality. We continue to seek a quality Fair Trade alternative to the 58% cocoa mass chocolate we use. Unfortunately, as a small manufacturer, we do not have the market clout to be able to dictate terms to our suppliers, but I know we will eventually get there. We don't give up.
In the meantime, I can assure you that none of the cacao that goes into any of our products involves slavery in any way. It comes from Latin America and the Caribbean basin, mostly Peru and the Dominican Republic. Certified organic cacao plantations there are small family-owned and run holdings. I have visited organic cacao plantations in the DR and found that the farmers there receive a premium for their beans - because they're organic and high quality - which allows them a decent standard of living. Whether you or I would be happy with it is another question; working conditions in the so-called developing world are harder and pay much less than what we would accept from a job here in Canada, but the farmers in question consider them to be acceptable. Also, the fact that they are growing their crops organically means that they are not risking their health or the health of their children from exposure to agricultural chemicals - fungicides are particularly widely used in conventional operations - as well as being able to protect the health of their land and all the organisms they share the land with.
I hope this answers your question. Please contact me if there is anything else you need to know.
no subject
...We use two different chocolates to make our products. One is 72% cocoa mass and is certified Fair Trade. It is used exclusively in our Cocoa Loco and Rosemary, Baby bars. It also makes up between 25% and 50% of the mix for our other flavours. The other chocolate is 58% cocoa mass and is not Fair Trade. Since 2007 we have been able to source some of our inputs as certified Fair Trade. This is not an issue of accessibility but of quality. We continue to seek a quality Fair Trade alternative to the 58% cocoa mass chocolate we use. Unfortunately, as a small manufacturer, we do not have the market clout to be able to dictate terms to our suppliers, but I know we will eventually get there. We don't give up.
In the meantime, I can assure you that none of the cacao that goes into any of our products involves slavery in any way. It comes from Latin America and the Caribbean basin, mostly Peru and the Dominican Republic. Certified organic cacao plantations there are small family-owned and run holdings. I have visited organic cacao plantations in the DR and found that the farmers there receive a premium for their beans - because they're organic and high quality - which allows them a decent standard of living. Whether you or I would be happy with it is another question; working conditions in the so-called developing world are harder and pay much less than what we would accept from a job here in Canada, but the farmers in question consider them to be acceptable. Also, the fact that they are growing their crops organically means that they are not risking their health or the health of their children from exposure to agricultural chemicals - fungicides are particularly widely used in conventional operations - as well as being able to protect the health of their land and all the organisms they share the land with.
I hope this answers your question. Please contact me if there is anything else you need to know.