Went on a tour of their factory this past weekend with a group from my church. We learned quite a lot about the production of chocolate, as well as the importance of Theo's fair-trade and organic promise. Also sampled many types of chocolate, including a single-origin 91% dark chocolate bar from Costa Rica and some of the company's artfully made confections. I loved the Ghost Devil Caramel and the Basil Ganache confections.
Most people don't know where the chocolate they're eating comes from and unfortunately, chocolate is a product that often has a very shady and tragic manufacturing. A large percentage of cacao production takes place in Ivory Coast; child labor, exploitation and modern-day slavery are often a part of the process that brings chocolate to our stores in the U.S. For more information, check out these websites:
But with Theo, I know where I my chocolate comes from. They are a bean-to-bar company; this means that they purchase the organic cacao beans directly from farmers and roast the beans in their Seattle factory. On the tour we went through the bean-to-bar process and saw how a cacao bean becomes a bar of chocolate. More about Theo can be found on their website, Theo Chocolate.
I guess I'm a bit of Theonista: "leaders of the chocolate revolution, the revolutionaries can often be heard chanting "Viva Cacao Organico!, Viva Cacao Calidad!" Considered a peace loving sect of the global food industry, the Theonistas are prone to Theobromine induced fits of laughter and hugging."
From here on out, I am hoping to only buy chocolate that is fair-trade... unfortunately this excludes Reese's, which are my love. I will just have to find a replacement.
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