Chocolate Notes: Transparency

Chocolate is made from cacao beans that only grow in specific conditions in equatorial regions.  As such, most of us are unaware of the conditions in which the beans that will become our chocolate are produced.  Unfortunately, this hides the terrible conditions of most of the world’s cacao bean producers. 

Órla Ryan warns us in her book “Chocolate Nations: Living and Dying for Cocoa in West Africa” (Zed Books, 2011). “ Producers need to be able to make enough money from cocoa if they are to continue harvesting the beans. If not, a time will come when they simply plant another crop”

Here at Chocolat Voyageur, we believe the cacao has the power to bring real prosperity and a viable livelihood to the rural smallholder farmers who produce our cacao. Through investment and proper management, cacao is a sustainable and ethical cash crop.  In order for the cacao producers to see these benefits, we must ensure that the profits of chocolate make their way back to the very producers that we depend upon.

This is where transparency comes in.  Founder and chocolate maker, Dominique Chartrand, shares some of the business practices that she undertakes to ensure that her chocolate is ethically and sustainably sourced.

Dominique Chartrand “One of the important elements of making bean to bar chocolate is how we purchase our beans. The exchange is done directly with the farmers and cooperatives and/or through distributors who build and maintain these same relationships. Sometimes makers choose both routes. It all depends on relationships, finances, capacity and so much more. 

I had the opportunity to meet and get to know two of my distributors while I was working with Lisabeth of Finnia Chocolate; Juan from Mabco Inc. and César from Cacaitos Canada. Chatting with these two gentlemen and how they source their beans and understanding their relationship and knowledge of both the cacao bean and regions are what helped me choose to work with both of them. Both care about the farmers, who is farming, where and how it is done. They understand the process of growing, fermenting and drying cacao and how to work with farmers and cooperatives to get the best product possible without jeopardizing human life, nature and output. 

These elements matter to me very much, as one of the reasons I started to make bean to bar chocolate (other than my passion for chocolate) is the desire to help support farmers who work so hard to grow and make cacao available to makers such as myself. I wanted to pay more for the beans as I want to make sure that the benefits of cacao start from mother nature to the farmers to myself and finally the customer. As well as understand its growth, impact and to help be part of a sustainable future. It is a circular process that enables us to support each other through a viable and sustainable community.”

Chocolate has a history of exploitative labour practices, even child slavery. 

In her exposé “Bitter chocolate : investigating the dark side of the world’s most seductive sweet” (Random House, 2006), Carol Off reveals:

the IITA [International Institute of Tropical Agriculture] study did acknowledge a very large problem. The survey reported that 284,000 children worked in hazardous conditions on cocoa farms in West Africa, over two-thirds of them in Côte d’Ivoire, where they were required to spray chemicals without proper protective equipment and to clear areas using machetes that they couldn’t always manage.…But it also concluded that 12,000 of the children were working on farms where they seemed to have no family ties and that about 2,500 may have been smuggled into the country for the purposes of working on these farms.

Can you elaborate on how the transparency of direct trade ensures that we are contributing to a sustainable community for cacao producers? 

Dominique Chartrand  “One of the important items to keep this circle going is transparency. When looking at a dictionary definition of transparency, it speaks of being easily seen through as well as open and honest. Through my dealings with my distributors, following growers and receiving the product, it allows me to understand how and who I am getting my product from. 

As a microlot chocolate maker, the opportunity and ties I create with my distributors helps me get quality products, support their company and ensure that I am helping make a difference within the industry itself. This is a competitive and difficult market.  It is with the help of my distributors that enable me to create and share my chocolate to our customers. 

Part of my trust in my distributors comes from our relationship but also the information and detail I can receive from them about the farmers, cooperatives and businesses in a quick and ‘easy’ conversation. If they do not know the answer, they know where and how to get it for me. They live within the cacao world and understand what is going on within and around the industry. 

Creating systemic change in the supply chain is essential to the survival of chocolate. The importance, as stated above, of fostering prosperous growing communities that include the farmers, nature and the social fabric of whole communities. We also seek relationships with small growers to help the personal and economic growth of their communities. It also allows us to shed light on where the cacao grows and highlight its advantages, disadvantages and pressure points within their specific ecosystem and our broader system. There is also help to reach financial services and create a more sustainable development of cacao for the cacao producers, the farmers.  Because if cacao farming is not profitable and sustainable, the farmers will stop growing it. There will be no cacao beans to turn into chocolate!”

Can you walk us through some examples of the beans you use and the producers who grow them?

Dominique Chartrand  “One such example can be found through the relationship between the Vietnamese company Tbros, and my buyer, Juan from Mabco. Mabco sources the Dak Lak beans from Central Vietnam through Tbros. TBROS runs a farm in the Dak Lak province where they ferment their cacao using a uniquely developed method with other wet cacao beans they buy directly from neighbour farms in the region. Farmers are paid immediately for their cacao pods. Tbros help the farmers with various needs from education, resources and knowledge. Their aim is to bring happiness to all who are part of their journey : farmers, employees and customers.  When I receive these beans, I smile as I know that my purchase has enabled other people to live their life better.

Another example are the Semuliki Forest beans from Uganda I purchase through Uncommon Cacao. They deal directly with Latitude Trading Co. a business lead by women, who again pay for the cacao pods on delivery. Semuliki Forest is In the Budinguyao area of Uganda.  Latitude Trading Co. have various drop off points through the area to help make it easier for farmers to bring their harvest for purchase. They pay a premium price and also offer training, access to financial services and sustainable development. 

Lastly, I would like to chat about César from Cacaitos. I purchased my Ariari Colombia beans from him to make my milk chocolate. These beans are a  pure joy to work with and make a beautiful chocolate. The farm that he works with is run by a wife and husband team. They both have their roles within the farm to ensure growth and sustainability and a quality cacao bean. They have different varieties of cacao and ensure they blend them for a more consistent outcome. The location of this farm is within the Macarena National Park and they take special care in the fermentation process which is really important to help develop the health benefits and the terroir of the bean. 

These are three examples show what transparency means and brings to the table within the chocolate making process. It is not only about understanding where the chocolate comes from, but ensuring that the people who grow our chocolate do so willingly and with a desire to keep farming cacao. 

Transparency enables me to create a great quality product and allows me to share the many stories from origin to my clients. It also inspires me to select quality ingredients from away and from my home country to balance and cajole the beautiful flavours and stories that are shared through indulging and nourishing oneself with chocolate. 

I would love to hear your thoughts on what Transparency means to you!”

If you would like to lean more about founder and chocolate maker, Dominque Chartrand, visit our About Us page.