this interested me because i am a long time meditator, and meditation has been shown to have measurable physical effects.....on the brains of meditators. whether those effects can be passed on to other entities in debatable, no scientific evidence exists that i know of, just a lot of new age mumbo jumbo. the "peer reviewed" article they refer to on their website is from theSeptember 2007issue of "explore, the journal of science and healing". the abstract did not impress and i'm not going to spend $12 to read the whole thing. it might or might not be real science.
but more importantly, with this as with most raw chocolate, as with many chocolates that tout "social consciousness" loudly, there is one glaring problem. from their web page:
- The companys core mission is todo no harm and benefit others. At the highest level the brand resonates with consumers seeking to lead a more purposeful life
- The strategic advantage is an innovative technology that embeds the intentions of advanced meditators into chocolate and bridges the gaps between spirituality and science. This is the first mind matter product in the market
- The target market addresses a market segment that is being described as a mega-trend by 76% of executives worldwide, health and well-being. A recent Youtube video about Intentional Chocolate received over 150,000 hits in a 48-hour period.
- The companys products facilitate individuals and organizations in expressing their deepest emotions to their loved ones, such as I love you, I miss you, thank you. In addition, these offerings represent consumers core values about the interconnectedness of the world and our relationships to one another.
- The company intends to build purposeful partnerships through on-line retail, social networking and intentional fundraising distribution channels.
- The unanticipated business model for Intentional Chocolate is grounded upon the principle of offerings not outcomes. This is our expression of love: 20-50% of net profits will be reinvested into purposeful partnerships and intentional causes for the benefit of mankind.
- To walk the talk and express an attitude of gratitude our first offering to an intentional cause is to help the Dalai Lama in supporting a learning center at the Deer Park Buddhist Center in Oregon, WI that envisions an ongoing dialogue between Eastern and Western scientists about the nature of consciousness.
IT SAYS NOTHING ANYWHERE ABOUT TASTE!!! chocolate is food! if taste doesn't come first then i don't buy the model. put aside all the environmentally / socially responsible and/or new age verbiage from any number of thousands of food products, be it organic, fair trade, RA, UTZ, intentional, ethical, raw, whatever, if it doesn't taste good people won't want to eat it. so if they don't start with taste and then go to the new age stuff, it probably isn't all that good and not much of their "intention" will make it into consumer's bodies. things tend to go where they're aimed and if the aim is "do no harm," not "make great chocolate," well, you'll get harmless mediocre chocolate probably.
