Le Marais Chocolat Makes Organic Chocolate Truffles with a Purpose

Santa Monica, CA (February 27, 2012) Leslie Berliant has been cooking, baking and candy making since she was a little girl. She even had a catering company at the tender age of 16 and recently spent a year cooking everything from scratch and blogging about it. Her latest adventure in chocolate, however, began two years ago out of her personal passions for cooking, Fair Trade chocolate, dreaming up unique flavor combinations, and a desire to help after the earthquake in Haiti. Among other fundraising efforts for the foundation program she co-founded to help in the aftermath of the Haiti Earthquake in 2010 - BLU MOON Foundations Haiti Orphanage Adoption Program (HOAP) - she began selling truffles to friends and family at the holidays as a way to raise funds. Those truffle sales, contributed to clean water installations, critical food and supplies, school uniforms for 50 kids and an orphanage renovation.

This last holiday season, friends, and friends of friends, started buying truffles in larger numbers, 60 here, 100 there, and over and over again, people who didnt need to be nice about it told me these are better than (fill in a favorite high-end chocolate here). You should really do this as a business, Leslie explains, so I listened and took the leap! I chose the name, Le Marais Chocolat , because the truffles are hand-crafted and made in small batches, so each one is unique and rustic, but also high end and delicious, kind of like my beloved Le Marais neighborhood in Paris - its artsy and funky with aristocratic roots. Leslie says that since starting the company in January of this year, her friend have been incredibly supportive and encouraging. And on her first sales call, she sold 50 boxes to a local specialty food and wine retailer.

Now she is turning to the wider community to help raise funds on Kickstarter for Le Marais Chocolats Fair Trade Certification. Ive been a big advocate, one might even say proselytizer, of Fair Trade and especially Fair Trade chocolate since learning about the rampant use of child slave labor in the cocoa trade. We already use all Fair Trade Certified organic chocolate and many other Fair Trade and organic ingredients, but its important that we show our commitment by becoming a Fair Trade member and using the Fair Trade logo on our packaging.

The funds raised on Kickstarter will also help Le Marais Chocolat truffles make their way into some local farmers market where Leslie hopes to not only introduce people to her locally made truffles, but also be an advocate for Fair Trade.

I want to share my love of chocolate with the people that cultivate it, the communities where its grown and the people that savor it, Leslie explains. I also want to raise money for micro-organizations that dont have access to big donors but are making a difference in peoples lives. I created Le Marais Chocolat for chocolate connoisseurs like me that care about incredible taste, organic ingredients, fair trade practices, the environment and giving back--all in one little truffle!

Based in Santa Monica, California, Le Marais Chocolat creates small batch, hand-dipped chocolate truffles using organic Fair Trade Certified chocolate, organic cream and other locally sourced, organic ingredients to create delicious, rustic, handcrafted truffles. Unique flavors like Black Walnut, Rosemary Orange, Lemon Thyme and the signature Le Petit Prince truffle made with the fruit of the baobab tree, combine fresh herbs, flowers, fruits and other ingredients. All the chocolate used is organic and Fair Trade Certified and a portion of every sale is donated to charity. www.lemaraischocolat.com

Kickstarter - http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lemaraischocolat/le-marais-chocolat-gets-its-fair-trade-certificati

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/LeMaraisChocolat

For more information please contact Leslie Berliant at 310.403.1221, info@lemaraischocolat.com