Craft chocolate is chocolate produced with a series of key values, including:

• High-quality, sustainably-sourced cacao that creates delicious complex flavour in each bar.
• Paying farmers a living wage, which means paying far beyond both market price and fair trade price.
• Transparency
  in both supply chain and business practices, so that you can easily
  find where your chocolate comes from and how it's made.

Chocolate comes from cacao, a tropical fruit that
only grows close to the equator. This is why a lot of craft chocolate
tastes fruity!

Cacao is native to the Amazon rainforest, however
it has been spread around the world wherever it can grow. Today, you see
cacao coming from places like Brazil, Colombia, Peru, Belize, Hawaii,
Uganda, Mexio, Costa Rica, Tanzania, and more!

To be turned into
chocolate, cacao goes through a fermentation process before it's dried,
roasted, cracked and winnowed, conched, and finally tempered and molded.
This takes time and effort, but we think it's well-worth it.

Cacao is a tropical rainforest tree that requires high rainfall, warm
temperatures, and shade from other trees to protect it from the sun and
wind. These trees are a long-term investment: they'll yield cacao pods
for around 30 years. In fact, 90% of the world's cacao is grown on small,
family-run farms (called "smallholders") with less than two hectares of land.

We believe very strongly in paying farmers appropriately for their cacao, and for that reason we state that the chocolate in our store is "more than" Fair Trade. While some bars in our store do carry that certification, it is not a requirement because we think that chocolate makers can do better than what Fair Trade actually means.

While the set price for Fair Trade cacao is slightly higher than the commodity price, it still doesn't provide a living wage to farmers. Fair Trade certified chocolate can also still be made with coerced labour.

Fair Trade also uses something called the Mass Balance Supply Model, which means that chocolate companies are allowed to mix their Fair Trade certified beans with non-certified products. Because of this, not all chocolate sold under the Fair Trade logo may actually be Fair Trade!

At The Chocolate Project, we support chocolate makers who are committed to paying living wage prices for the cacao they buy. Some makers do this through direct trade relationships with farmers where makers and farmers work together to set a mutually-agreed on price for their cacao. Others purchase through specialized cacao brokers like Meridian Cacao and Uncommon Cacao who create those ethical partnerships for smaller companies.

The majority of our chocolate is vegan! A basic bar of chocolate should always be vegan, but sometimes makers will add additional ingredients like milk powder to create a specific taste experience. In addition to our many vegan dark bars, we are happy to carry a selection of vegan milk and white chocolate bars.

Not all of the chocolate we carry is certified organic, because organic certifications are incredibly expensive for cacao farmers to maintain and many farmers simply cannot afford the certification. Much of the cacao used in the chocolate we carry is farmed using organic practices.

When you choose craft chocolate, you are helping small businesses around
the world who are working to make a difference in the chocolate
industry. From farmers and farming cooperatives to chocolate makers,
craft chocolate is a tool for positive change. We think the chocolate tastes
incredible, too!

We have a guide on the best way to taste chocolate! Read it here.