From Bean to Brownie: Our Fair Trade Cocoa Unwrapped

3rd March, 2017

Did you know our tubs are full of Fairtrade goodness?

 

Ever looked deep into a tub of Chocolate Fudge Brownie and thought about what it all means? It's gooey and delicious, but there must be something more! You were right. Let us take you on a journey that starts with a humble cocoa bean and ends with ice cream euphoria. It's going to be a wild ride.

 

Let's Start at the Top...

Our little cocoa bean starts out where around 40% of the world's cocoa comes from: on a farm in the Ivory Coast. So far, so average. But, what makes our bean not-so-average is that unlike a lot of the cocoa here, it's produced in Fairtrade conditions.

 

What is Fairtrade?

Fairtrade is all about small - in a big way. It's a system that ensures small-scale farmers get a fair slice of the pie through receiving an honest price that never falls below the market value.

As well as this, companies like us who buy the cocoa pay an additional sum of money known as the Fairtrade social premium. This money goes straight to the farmers and their communities in order to help improve their lives and livelihoods in whichever way they see fit. In 2015, we paid $510,153 in social premiums for cocoa, which went towards building a medical clinic, hiring a nurse, installing a water pump and a set of new solar panels!

Emma, a lovely farmer from Cote d'Ivoire, has seen her income increase significantly since joining a Fairtrade cooperative. Last year she was able to buy her first bed thanks to both her fair price and a better crop helped by training funded through the premium.

 

 

Next Up - Those Fudgy Chunks

Once our beans have been ground into cocoa, they arrive in Yonkers, New York. Here they're baked into our wonderfully fudgy brownies at Greyston Bakery, a socail enterprise who's out-of-this-world treats are only part of what makes them so special. Greyston don't just hire people to bake brownies - they bake brownies to hire people.

Through their ground breaking open-door hiring policy, anyone who wants a job is given the chance to work - regardless of their educational background, work history, or past social barriers. When a position becomes available, the next person on the waiting list gets it... no questions asked! This way of doing things has enabled hundreds of people to turn their lives around. And we get fudgy chunks that taste good and do good too!

 

Over to the Factory

Now on to our factory, where our brownies are lovingly nestled into some of our most fudgin' delicious flavour ever, like Chocolate Fudge Brownie, Chocolate Therapy and Half Baked.

There's just one more character in this story - you! Next time you dig into a tub, relish in the knowledge that there's more than just brownie in those chunks - they're packed full of Fairtrade feel-good goodness too!