At Cocoammunity we promote artisan/craft businesses that all have one thing in common: the use of ethical and sustainable cacao ingredients.

Everyone loves chocolate—how it tastes, how it smells, and the flavor it adds to food and
beverages. What’s even better than chocolate is ethically and sustainably sourced chocolate that leaves behind the worst practices of the industry and embraces environmental stewardship and human rights.

Theobroma cacao is the tree that produces the seeds that we call cacao beans. From those beans comes cocoa, and chocolate. Widely farmed in Africa and Indonesia, these trees require extensive labor to harvest the pods and beans. They also require large areas in which to grow.

In a system ripe for abuse, child slave labor is common in some areas of the world that produce cacao. Nearly two million children worked in the cocoa industry in West Africa in 2011, according to one study.

Also alarming is the practice of deforestation in African and Indonesian rainforests to grow more trees. Not only does this destroy entire ecosystems, but it also results in diminishing yields from trees not grown in their native rainforest environment.

But there is hope. Ethical and sustainable cacao farms do exist. It is those farms with which the members of Cocoammunity do business. Our members carefully select farms that do not use child labor and practice sustainable agriculture. They then negotiate fairly to buy the cacao, supporting both the farmers and their communities.

These small businesses are leading us into a future where human rights and environmental responsibility are a foundational part of business plans. The world is moving away from big businesses that treat people and the planet as expendable.

Our mission is to support and promote small businesses that use fairly traded, ethically, and sustainably produced cacao in their products. Our businesses include everything from artisanal chocolate makers, bakeries, and craft beer brewers to juiceries and soap makers.

Each of the businesses represented in the Cocoammunity takes pride in both high-quality
products and the methods used in every step of their creation. By buying products from these small businesses you help establish the profitability of ethical practices.

At Cocoammuity we are devoted to the principle that the best chocolate comes from ethically harvested beans grown on environmentally sustainable trees. We hope that you will join us in our mission to promote and support these small businesses that share our passion.