Grococo

The Fairtrade Foundation congratulates Mars as the first packs of Fairtrade certified MALTESERS® are now available in UK stores, following the Mars–Fairtrade agreement announced last September.“What sweet news for cocoa farmers in West Africa, and for chocolate lovers in the UK, that the UK’s 3rd largest chocolate brand, MALTESERS, are now Fairtrade certified.”, says Harriet Lamb, Executive Director of the Fairtrade Foundation.  “This gives a significant boost to smallholder farmers to build their organisations and invest in a brighter future.” The cocoa will come from cooperatives in West Africa, and this move will contribute in excess of US $1 million in annual Fairtrade Premium funds for cocoa farmers’ groups to invest in their farms, business organisations and communities.”

Over 110 million packs of MALTESERS are sold in the UK per year – over 5 billion Maltesers in total. Fairtrade works with around 100,000 cocoa farmers in the West African countries of Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire.

Chantal says “While welcoming the mass producers of chocolate to the concept of “fair trade” we find that most of the buying public have little understanding of how this works in reality. As with all certifying bodies, there is a lot of paperwork and the Fairtrade Foundation do not do their bit for free, it is a big investment for small ethical social entrepreneurs. You may be interested to read the other side of the argument: criticism for the Fairtrade Foundation. Even based on their own numbers, this has to be seen as little more than a token gesture at less than a penny per packet sold and less than a dollar per farmer per month.

Our joint venture Grococo works by reversing the normal terms of trade. Working with the local community to manufacture finished chocolate bars, they keep the added value where the beans are grown. Where cocoa growing has been a marginal activity on the island of Grenada, now there is a thriving micro economy based on organic cocoa. This has got to be an example of “best practice” to the world of cocoa growing and sustainability.

via The Fairtrade Foundation | Fairtrade – Maltesers certified.

The intense, Marmite-like aroma should be an indication that this chocolate should be taken slowly. Not only is there that brutish nose that is so full of seaside salty acidity but there’s also an arid, out of this world sense which does offer rare flashes of fruitiness. This is a chocolate that provides a full sensory experience; from the deep, dark colour; to the most audacious of flavours and a mouth feel that is as exquisite beyond belief.

It’s difficult to explain how this chocolate melts. Of course it’s slowly. If I try it’s like a Magnum ice cream in stages. There’s a soft outer layer that has flavour in abundance and then a solid core waiting in return. But with this bar that soft, delicate, flavoursome exterior continually contracts until the displeasing moment arrives when it’s melted to nothing. At this point you could be tempted to break off another piece, but I wouldn’t. The flavours linger for a great deal after the melt has finished.

The reality of this chocolate, and 100% dark chocolate in general is that this is real chocolate. There’s no sugar, no vanilla and no compromises. For those willing to try extremely bitter dark chocolate and have sufficient will-power not to chew, you’ll be rewarded with a luscious experience.

via Grenada Chocolate Company 100% Dark Chocolate Tree to Bar Review.

It’s no wonder that the Grenada Chocolate Company has won international acclaim — it’s delicious, fair, eco-friendly and passionate — an honest product amidst a market of refined Mars and Hershey bars.

Today, the partners own 150 acres of organic cocoa farms, a cocoa fermentry located one mile from their little factory, and an army of solar-electrically powered antique machines. (In the early 1900′s, quality had precedence over quantity in chocolate-making.) The company is a rarity among a monopolized world of mega “sweets” conglomerates, producing small batches of dark chocolate infused with raw organic sugar and whole organic vanilla beans grown biodynamically in Costa Rica.

“The original impetus and principle of our cooperative company is to revolutionize the cocoa-chocolate system that typically keeps cocoa production separate from chocolate-making and therefore takes advantage of cocoa farmers. We believe that the cocoa farmers should benefit as much as the chocolate-makers” — Grenada Chocolate Company.

via The Grenada Chocolate Company: Local, Sustainable &… – Culture-ist.