Honorable Sourcing
Our chocolate maker that we buy from loves partnering with stakeholders within the chocolate supply chain and it is key to sourcing sustainable ingredients, obtaining impactful certifications, and developing their Cultivate Better Cocoa program. Diving deep into the relationships and practices within our supply chain is an ongoing journey and one that we continue to develop and foster over time and through crucial partnerships and new collaborations. We believe, as well as our chocolate maker, that the end product is only as good as the ingredients that go into it. And by good, we mean not only flavor but also social integrity.
INGREDIENT SOURCING
Where we get our ingredients and the social conditions under which they are grown are central to our work—and integral to our definition of quality.
CERTIFIED COCOA
Certifiers play a crucial role in ensuring essential practices on the farm level. They also hold implementation and coops accountable for efforts being made while setting industry standards for training in good agricultural practices, cooperative governance and community engagement. Cocoa from our Cultivate Better Cocoa programs come from farms, coops or farmer organizations that are UTZ/Rainforest Alliance and/or Fair Trade Certified. Our chocolate maker's commitment, as well as C&C's to certification goes beyond just third-party certification; in addition to our chocolate maker's chocolate line carrying Fair Trade USA certification, they also offer UTZ/Rainforest Alliance and Fair Trade certifications for companies like C&C that feel certification is the right sustainability approach for their business. Their Fair Trade program is one that they’ve developed since 2007, when they introduced their first Fair Trade Certified product; since then, they’ve continued a robust and committed relationship with the organization and their farmer groups through our Beneficiary Coop Model.
OUR OTHER INGREDIENTS
RBGH FREE DAIRY
Our chocolate maker, as well as C&C, is fortunate to work with dairy suppliers who are committed to sustainable agriculture and dairy production and who don’t use growth hormones such as rBGH.
NON GMO SUGAR
Our chocolate maker's domestic and overseas sugar farmers and suppliers use sustainable agricultural practices, enabling them to reduce the environmental footprint of growing and refining sugar without growing GMO crops.
SUNFLOWER LECITHIN
C&C as well as our Chocolate maker uses sunflower lecithin in all of our chocolate and chocolate products. While lecithin itself is a minor ingredient in our final product, sunflower lecithin provides an added health and wellness benefit.
See more about the chocolate maker and the chocolate we use and support:
