Divine Chocolate is currently the only fair trade chocolate company in the world owned by cocoa farmers. The company launched a new organic line earlier this year — Divine’s first organic line — which also marks the first time Divine has sourced cocoa from CECAQ-11, a co-operative of farmers on the island of São Tomé as located off the coast of West Africa.
Historically known as “Chocolate Island,” São Tomé is where some of the world’s finest cocoa originates, and this newly-launched organic line from Divine Chocolate is made with a higher cocoa content while also certified organic by the USDA, Non-GMO Project Verified, kosher and vegan.
Also a Certified B Corporation, Divine Chocolate is among the leaders of the global movement of people using business as a force for good. A “B Corp Certification” doesn’t just evaluate a company’s single product or service, rather it also assesses the overall, long-term positive impact of the company that stands behind it. “B Corps” ultimately meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance, public transparency, and legal accountability, while also aspiring to use the power of markets to solve major social and environmental problems.
On Hanukkah, we celebrate the miracles of ages past. The Talmud teaches us, however, “we don’t rely on miracles” (Kiddushin 39b).
Instead of waiting for a miracle, we take action to establish a world that is safe and just for everyone. Along these lines, each year Divine Chocolate partners with T’ruah: The Rabbinic Call for Human Rights to promote Kosher Fair Trade gelt for Hanukkah. Ten percent of Divine Chocolate gelt sales go back to T’ruah.
Both the milk and dark chocolate coins of Divine are produced in a peanut-free facility.
In turn, this Chanukah, Divine takes one concrete step toward the “miracle” of protecting the human rights of all workers, empowering farmers and ending labor abuses within the cocoa industry. In the words of Troy Pearley, Divine’s Executive Vice President who I had the pleasure of interviewing back in April: “Be unapologetically yourself. Respect others by treating them the way you want to be treated. Listen so that you can learn… Everyone has some type of talent.”
More on Divine Chocolate and its work with T’ruah can be found here.
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