10/21/2017
Where are my chocolataholics????
Ever wondered or been asked if our chocolate is “fair trade”? Well, here’s your answer...
Unfortunately, the history of chocolate is full of unscrupulous companies and people who have engaged in unethical business practices. One of these is that the large companies created a lock on the industry so that they could dictate the price to the cocoa farmer. This meant that the farmers were always living on borderline poverty and often had to resort to poor farming practices in order to stay afloat and feed their families.
Since Young Living and our partner Contract Manufacturer are concerned only with the highest quality cocoa beans, we always pays farmers and co-ops significantly more for their product than is set by the “fair trade” organizations. Unfortunately, it costs significant amounts of money (often upwards of $10,000US / year) for the farmers to become fair-trade certified in addition to it being a long drawn out process. Many farmers simply cannot afford it. The Fair-Trade certification organizations don’t have operations in many of the cocoa growing countries. We would hate to leave these country’s farmers out in the cold just because some other organization decides not to work in their country.
At Young Living we believe in paying a premium price for premium cocoa beans. The prices we pay are measured in multiples (i.e., 3-4 times) the London Cocoa Terminal Market price. This not only ensures that we obtain the highest quality beans available but this also ensures that the farmers we work with not only can provide for their families but are encouraged to produce a high quality product and improve their farms. We don’t pay the prices we pay to get a label on our box — we do it because it is the right thing to do.
(Shared by Corporate today and it’s so amazing!)