Is there such a thing as GREAT Fair Trade chocolate?
@clay
11/04/10 06:25:40
1,680 posts
Having just come back from the Salon du Chocolat two days ago and taking a look there, I was wondering if anyone knows of a truly world-class chocolate made with FLO Fair Trade certified beans.
Equal Exchange, Alter Eco, Divine, etc., all make certified chocolates but I don't know anyone who puts them in the same class as Bonnat, Amedei, Domori, Askiniosie, Amano, et al.
There are very large companies making certified chocolate but that's all mass-market chocolate-like substance, IMO.
Any thoughts?
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clay - http://www.thechocolatelife.com/clay/
updated by @clay: 04/10/15 16:47:11
@clay
11/05/10 10:36:06
1,680 posts
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clay - http://www.thechocolatelife.com/clay/
@sarah-hart
11/05/10 14:33:57
63 posts
@frank-homann
11/12/10 07:41:27
2 posts
@clay
11/13/10 08:16:38
1,680 posts
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clay - http://www.thechocolatelife.com/clay/
@frank-homann
11/13/10 10:27:35
2 posts
@duffy-sheardown
11/13/10 11:25:54
55 posts
@anna-bonavita
11/14/10 20:46:01
4 posts
@langdon-stevenson
12/28/10 23:54:58
51 posts
Frank,
Your lack of sympathy for, and understanding of poor cash crop farmers (and what motivates them) seems as limited as your lack of understanding of what Fair Trade is and why it exists, (and what can be achieved with "bulk" forastero cocoa).
Some of the best cocoa I have ever tasted (properly fermented and dried, with strong chocolate aroma and other flavour notes) is forastero cocoa produced by isolated, uneducated South Pacific farmers. Those people are literally forced to accept low prices for their cocoa (because the buyers work together to keep the price to growers down) despite its high quality.
So to say that poor grows who seek Fair Trade certification:
"try the argument of "look I am poor, I should make some more money""
... is arrogant and wrong and neatly deflects responsibility for the problem (their poverty) from the people who actually cause it (that is us in the developed nations of the world).
What Fair Trade is actually saying is: "These people deserve to get a living wage for the work that they do and it is our responsibility to pay ".
It's also wrong to say that Fair Trade (with all of its acknowledged flaws) just trades off the story of poverty. Fair Trade is meant to be a safety net for poor people that prevents exploitation. It's not intended to be a driver of quality, or quantity of product. How first world manufacturers choose to use the Fair Trade story of their product has nothing do to with the farmers who rely on it in an attempt to get a fair income from their labour.
I will agree with Duffy's post above. Power imbalances (like in the English milk industry which is also happening in Australia) are not the fault of the farmer. And dismissing Fair Trade for its efforts to try to restore some balance in poor nations is wrong.
Langdon
The only great Fairtrade chocolate is Theo. If we are including Rainforest Alliance, then Cacaoyere as well. I think that bothof these occupy a new place, their own category, perhaps, of mass marketproduct that holds enough of the fine chocolate ingredients, and doesn't flubit up too much, can be great chocolate in its own right, and is still accessibleto a wide range. Not quite as good as those in some ways, but a perfectly respectableRainforest chocolate, is Kallari.
I think it can almost be comparing apples in oranges to say if any of these are worth the Bonnat/Domori/ Amano type or not... I prefer totaste either Cacaoyere or Theo, even the Kallari, in addition to a couple from Republica delCacao, and some by Slitti, El Rey, or even Santander, to most chocolates byValrhona, for example. None of these last are Fairtrade or Rainforest certified,though, but they do belong to a category I see as the best industrial chocolates,they are more sophisticated and interesting than the Callebaut level, to besure. I've been talking about a bunch of this stuff on my blog as of late,where I've also occasionally bitched and moaned about Fairtrade, etc...
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