For the love of chocolate

Valentine’s Day is coming up and always makes me think about chocolate.

As a child, when it came to chocolate, I thought my father had expensive tastes. He had little respect for the large chocolate makers in America and when we went to the store (grocery, convenient, department, boutique, didn’t matter) he’d always turn up his nose at the chocolate display and say “That’s not real chocolate.”

It was easy to dismiss his claim because he was foreign and would force me to reference the dictionary every other day to improve my vocabulary. What did he know?

A lot more than I did, apparently.

He grew up with a father who had cocoa fields and sent his harvest to a known British confectionery company that (at the time) focused on chocolate production and improving worker’s living conditions.

Through other family members I learned something important: Chocolate isn’t cheap. It isn’t cheap to grow* or produce or distribute. Cheap chocolate isn’t real chocolate.

So, if you’re a true chocolate lover, real chocolate is the only way to go. Be prepared to pay more for a delicious, savory experience. One you won’t forget. (I’ve had chocolate soooo good I didn’t want to share). There is a difference.

How can you do this? Share your love by buying bean-to-bar, tree-to-bar, or farmer owned chocolate and improve a system that harms cacao growers and pickers.

Organizations like Acumen are committed to investing in chocolate companies that want to make a change.

But there are other companies also leading the charge.

North Carolina based French Broad Chocolates

One of the chocolate bars from Original Beans offers an infusion of raspberry, dried prunes and pecans.

Cocoa Store is a small New York store than can ship you carefully sourced chocolate from around the world.

and many more…

We can make a difference one bar at a time.

*(I know you don’t ‘grow’ chocolate, but rather cacao trees, but let’s keep the message simple, shall we?)