Attention anyone with food sensitivities who still has a sweet tooth: several suppliers offer organic and natural chocolates for the annual day of decadence.
Taza Chocolate strives to create products as efficiently and environmentally friendly as possible. This Massachusetts-based supplier uses certified organic ingredients to handcraft its chocolates. By trading directly with the farmer, Taza Chocolates says it ensures the highest quality ingredients, and ensures that a fair wage is earned at the farm level.
Adhering to the Slow Food Philosophy, Taza Chocolate is ‘produced in a clean way that does not harm the environment, animal welfare or our health; and that food producers should receive fair compensation for their work.’
Taza offers several chocolate treats for the conscientious-minded such as chocolate bars and raw organic cacao beans.
“NO SLAVERY.” It’s printed on every product that chocolate producer TCHO makes. With human trafficking being a prevalent issue in the chocolate industry, TCHO has taken a stand against slave labor for cacao harvesting.
TCHO says that one third of all chocolates may have been touched by slaves’ hands. To combat this, TCHO has set up TCHOSource to “partner with growers and coops and transfer knowledge about growing and fermentation to enable farmers to become premium producers and create a relationship of mutual self-interest that goes beyond Fair Trade.”
Offering a new line of organic chocolates, Ecuadorian chocolate company Pacari Chocolate recently introduced an organic bar produced entirely in Ecuador. Pacari Chocolate is produced in small batches with carefully selected ingredients to ensure the maximum flavor profile.
All of the ingredients are 100 percent organic and Pacari ensures that producers are paid well above market price for their products and that all farms provide working conditions that are in line with fair trade standards.
Taking a “Full Circle Sustainability” approach to chocolatiering, Dagoba Organic Chocolate provides many offerings while supporting fair business practices.
Dagoba applies principles that “blend quality, ecology, equity and community from the rainforest” to consumers. They say they do not use any artificial extracts or irradiated ingredients in their chocolates. A variety of chocolate options are available, including vegan offerings.
Chocolates geared specifically for vegetarians are also available from other chocolate suppliers, such as Allison’s Gourmet. The gourmet chocolate producer has a new two-piece chocolates box featuring organic vegan truffles and caramels sure to please both your appetite and your conscious.
Originally conceived as a chocolate turndown treat for owners of bed and breakfasts, lodges and hotels to give to their guests, the new two-piece chocolates box offers a healthy way to indulge in something sweet. All of Allison’s Gourmet offerings are touted as free of animal ingredients, cholesterol and highly-refined sweeteners and are freshly made with fine organic ingredients.
