The chocolate we use to make our Easter Eggs and Chocolates is sourced under a scheme known as Raisetrade from Madagascar and Colombia. With Raisetrade the chocolate is made in the country of origin. Compared to an export of farmed cash crops such as cacao beans it’s worth many times more for Madagascar and Colombia helping the people to trade their way out of poverty rather than accept charity. The Guardian named it the World’s Fairest Chocolate and The Independent Fifty Great Ideas for the 21st Century. We believe it is the best chance we have of achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
With Raisetrade the proportion of money and tax revenue retained in the country goes from 6% without Fairetrade, to 7.5% with Fairtrade, to 33% with Raisetrade.
Back in 2005 the idea of Raisetrade (7), or Equitrade as it was then named, was a radical new concept.
Malagasy, the first Equitrade firm in the world, says it “will not sell cash crops from Madagascar at pence per kilogram, so that other companies can sell them at pounds per kilogram in international markets”. Malagasy’s (meaning from Madagascar) chocolate is classed as “equitably traded” and this means it shares the income it receives from selling its finished product abroad equally with its various suppliers at home in Madagascar. Equitrade tries to ensure that, not only does a product’s raw materials originate from a poor community, it also tries to ensure it is manufactured, packaged and even marketed from there too.
Great Taste and Taste of the West Awards winner 2019
Malagasy Milk – Milc Chocolate
The aim of Raisetrade is to ideally make the entire finished chocolate product on Madagscar, from crops grown locally, so Cacao beans, Organic cane sugar, and Vanilla. However there are no natural dairy herds on Madagascar, and long may this continue, so milk powder for milk chocolate is imported.
In recent years the rise of Veganism as a food choice and a means of reducing Climate impacts has allowed the company to develop a new type of chocolate made with Cashew Nuts as a replacement for milk.
In parallel we were searching for a milk chocolate alternative that we could develop a Vegan chocolate range with. We had reached the point of deciding we needed to make our own from scratch as every product we tried tasted at worst – like cardboard, and at best – a cheap supermarket bar alternative.
So when our friend Nicolas from Chocolat Madagascar visited the UK in 2018 with a sample of the new Cashew – milc chocolate we were delighted. Here was a milk chocolate equivalent that really delivered on flavour made entirely under the Raisetrade scheme on Madagscar!
Our White chocolate and Raspberry Nest box eggs are made with Colombian White chocolate from our partners at Casa Luker in a scheme that has planted 2.8 million trees reforesting a former cattle ranch. The company takes a holistic approach centred around the United Nations Sustainable Development goals.
For Easter 2020 all our chocolate was sourced under the Raisetrade initiative from Madagsacar and Colombia.
We put the Sustainable Development Goals at the centre of our business.
Life Tastes Better with Raisetrade
Find out more about our sustainability work, combatting climate change and putting prosperity before growth in the posts below…