Reaching beyond fair trade

of worm composting with growers and supporting the regeneration of a mid-sized shade tree for jaguar cacao in Chinantla. LetterPress cites its investment in the cacao trees with Izabal Agroforest.

One of the toughest challenges for chocolate makers such as ChocoSol is showing consumers that they are good corporate citizens, even without certification logos on their products.

Byron Koss, who looks after market sales and urban farming at ChocoSol, said he tries to be as transparent as possible with customers.

“People come and visit us at markets, we’re standing right there and we can explain the products, answer any questions they have about the ingredients, and they can also come into the kitchen,” he said.

Sacco said this openness has helped ChocoSol’s sales jump by 20 per cent each year over the past three years, and they topped $1 million in 2016.

More than 2,000 stores in several countries now stock Taza chocolates, but success also raises other challenges.

“The larger one gets, the further one gets from consumers — because you start working with distributors and you start working at larger grocery stores — the harder it is to communicate and tell your story,” Last said.

Taza published its first transparency report in 2011 when it was buying only about 45 tons of cacao beans a year. Last year, it brought in 233 tons.

Even so, Last wouldn’t have it any other way. “If our cacao beans are not good, our chocolate isn’t good. And so, in a way, the impact and the business success go together,” he said. “By having these close relationships with the farmers at origin, we work hand in hand to ensure high quality cacao and, in turn, really delicious chocolate.”

LetterPress won the Good Food Award and ChocoSol won Silver at the Canadian National Competition for their white jaguar swirl bar.

“Consumers might not know anything about our direct-trade program or the relationship we have with the farmers," Last said. “But they are benefiting from it, because our chocolate is just really good.”