Ethical

There has been a long history of exploitation, corruption and greed in the chocolate industry with the goal to maximize profit at any cost as the source.

Multi-National chocolate companies ("Big Chocolate") purchase cheap, low quality cocoa beans from corrupt cartels who frequently use their profits to purchase weapons to fight their civil wars.

To survive under these economic conditions, cocoa farmers must keep production costs as low as possible. To accomplish this, farmers cultivate high yielding but low quality Forestero cocoa, use poor fermentation and drying techniques, disregard the environment and partake in abusive slave labour techniques that exploit children.

 Mulit-National discount stores purchase almost entirely from suppliers who can provide the lowest cost products. To keep their costs low many suppliers have no choice but to produce their products in third world "sweat shops". ‘Big Chocolate’ was already exploiting cocoa farmers, so they didn’t need to change their strategy to be the low cost chocolate supplier of choice for the multi-national retailers.

Fortunately, some people see the world differently. As a result, there's a movement to promote a fairer world economy. One of these movements is "Fair Trade", which ensures cocoa bought directly from a farmer or a farmers' cooperative is purchased above cartel pricing. Fair Trade improves the livelihoods of farmers, increases the well being of communities and allows farmers to pay their workers fair wages. 

However, consumers sometimes use "Fair Trade" certification as their only criteria for purchasing a bar of chocolate. "Fair Trade" certification does not guarantee great tasting chocolate. Superior quality chocolate certified as 'Fair Trade' is rare. 

Farmers are motivated to create great tasting, flavour cocoa beans of the Criollo and Trinitario varieties when their crops are purchased at prices above 'Fair Trade'. The prices are higher because great tasting varieties of cocoa are difficult to grow, susceptible to disease, produce low yields and are highly sought after by quality chocolatiers.

Coppeneur purchases their cocoa beans as directly as possible from the farmer. This close relationship ensures Coppeneur visits the plantations, allowing for inspection of the beans, cultivation methods, fermentation - drying techniques and working conditions of the employees. Seeing the success of their neighbours' plantation, nearby cocoa farmers are motivated to improve the quality of their harvest and invest earnings back into their farm.

High quality chocolate, grown on plantations that utilize the best fermentation and drying techniques and the best cultivation techniques that sustain the health of the environment, creates a winning combination for the farmer, the chocolatier and the consumer.

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