I’m a big proponent of fairly traded goods. I appreciate companies that recognize their power to make a difference in the world through their products and their contributions. When I received samples from Equal Exchange, a company that creates fair-trade chocolate, I was blown away — not only by the decadence of their chocolate bars, but also by their impressive marketing materials that delve into their strong support for cacao farmers.Equal Exchange’s farmers belong to co-ops, which empowers them and allow them to be actively involved in business and make decisions about projects that will improve their communities. The company makes their chocolate products with cacao supplied from these farmers, located in the Dominican Republic, Peru and Panama, as well as sugar from co-ops in Costa Rica and Paraguay and vanilla from a farmer association in Madagascar. All ingredients are organic and fairly traded, and the bars contain to additives or artificial flavorings.
Through their partnerships with these local farmers, Equal Exchange has helped impoverished communities make improvements, such as installing wells for drinking water. The company also works toward eradicating child labor in the chocolate industry. (Visit www.equalexchange.coop/child-labor-in-the-cocoa-industry for more information.)
These sweet facts make the chocolate taste that much better. I have so far tried the Organic Orange Dark Chocolate bar — needless to say, it was love at first bite. I’m eager to try the other flavors as well. Visit www.equalexchange.coop to learn more.
-Ashley
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