Chocolate Truffle Co

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Chelmsford-UK

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A little insight to the work of the Rainforest Alliance

The Rainforest Alliance is an NGO (non-govenmental organisation) based in New York that works to conserve biodiversity and ensure sustainable livelihoods by transforming land-use practices, business practices and consumer behavior. 

If you are not aware I'm a BIG fan of the Rainforest Alliance hence why I decided to use ethical chocolate sourced from Costa Rica. I use 'Costa Rica 64' (dark) and 'Costa Rica 38' (milk) to produce some delicious mini bars. The RA is often presented as the 'easy option' for retailers to join in comparison to the Fairtrade Foundation as your product only has to contain 30% of the Certified product to gain registration. This is true but within 12 months your product must contain 90 or 100%.

However, I thought it might be interesting to demonstrate some of the good work that the RA does on a regular basis. I've detailed below some information from the owner of the farm that provides probably the best ethical chocolate in the world. I know, I'm a little biased but it is really good chocolate!

Our 110 ha, family owned farm is located in the Carribean Lowlands of Costa Rica. 

The cocoafarm was started in 1985 using mostly 6 Trinitario clones, selected by our own company for production and quality during more than 10 years of research. 

Special care is taken to ensure a good fermentation and drying of the cocoa beans, both very important for flavour development.

We have aprox. 27 dedicated, loyal employees for the cocoa farm and our little cocoa liquor factory, which all earn good wages, and all have social security. We do not have minors working, and we stimulate the attendance of high school for the children of our workers. Most workers have been with us for over 10 years.

We have turned to organic farming since 2000 and our farm is certified organic since 2003.

The farm has also been certified by the Rainforest Alliance for approx. 2 years. A non obligatory questionnaire has been sent in the past to our workers to ask them if the change to organic farming had affected them.  Appr. 40% reacted, all in positive ways, that it was good to work with nature and not against it, and not anymore running the risk of intoxication, some even mentioned that it had changed their way of looking at life.

We don´t use any agrochemicals, avoiding intoxicating our employees and consumers of our product.

For fertilization we use organic fertilizer (compost) produced by our own company. We believe that slowly improving the soil is very important for the future of mankind. We use a cable system to take the harvested pods from the field to the processing plant (beneficio) and to bring the compost into the fields. 

Since turning to organic farming we have observed a big increase in biodiversity while our workers seem to be very healthy.

To find out more about our ethical chocolate visit my site follow this link...

http://www.thechocolatetrufflecompany.co.uk/rainforest_alliance.html 

Chocolate Competition

Do you love chocolate?

Do you want the chance to win delicious chocolate?

If the answer is yes then simply follow these instructions...

We would like to offer you all a chance to win some FREE chocolate!

WIN £60 of FREE chocolate!To win simply answer this question.

Q. We use two types of ethical chocolate what are they called?

The answer is somewhere on our website
http://www.thechocolatetrufflecompany.co.uk

Simply email your answer to Christine@thechocolatetrufflecompany.co.uk

Competition ends 31st December 2009.

Winner will be announced in January.

Good luck!

Christine

Royal Mail Strikes

Royal Mail Strikes!

How are they affecting your business performance?

It always seems to me that it's the people in the middle of an argument that end up paying the price.

I understand where both sides are coming from. From a management point of view you have to have improvements and modernisation to move the business forwards. From a Postman's point of view they're only trying to protect jobs. We all (well some of us) have to pay the dreaded mortgage somehow! I'm sure every household in the land has a story about job cuts or sacrafices that have had to be made during this recession. The Royal Mail is not alone.

Surely this dispute should have gone to ACAS sooner? Disputes should be decided without striking, businesses that people depend on can't be held to ransom. For example Tami flu pills are not getting through to patients.

A second wave of strikes are planned for later this week. What will happen in December when we should have our best selling period? I've already started working with a courier and will end up absorbing some of the extra costs.

If the Royal Mail continues on this road to ruin there is only one outcome. All the profitable bits will be sold off and people will end up losing their jobs.

What do you think about it?

Best wishes and I hope they resolve their issue soon.

Christine

Eurochocolate!

Eurochocolate?

What is she talking about now?

When the Rainforest Alliance asked me for some chocolate tasters little did I realise that my chocolate would end up in one of Europes biggest chocolate events of the year in Italy! Unfortunately, they didn't take me just the chocolate.

The event takes place in Perugia and runs for a week. Can you imagine spending a week tasting chocolate and other delightful goodies. Apparently this event goes from strength to strength and once a taste has been acquired for real dark chocolate, you won't want to pick up a Milky Bar again.

I sent a small sample of Costa Rica 64 which is a dark 'Origin' chocolate and according to our RA representative the chocolate was extremely well received.

The tasting took place in the bastion of the Rocca Paolina, a Renaissance fortress built in Perugia, unfortunately due to the dungeon lighting the photos didn’t turn out very well!

•  The event was the 16^th edition of Eurochocolate in the city of Perugi

• There were over 1 million visitors at the event and 205 tons of chocolate were distributed/sold at the event

• There were a series of tasting events called “Viaggiare con Gusto” – “Travel with Taste” and 400 people participated in total; tasting different chocolates from different origins

• The tasting of chocolates with the Rainforest Alliance Certified™ green frog seal had about 40 participants

• The Chocolate Truffle company’s chocolate was very well received by the lead taster and the audience; confirming that quality and sustainability go hand in hand

• The tasting was held in the Rocca Paolina, a Renaissance fortress

We didn't win any prizes but it's great to know that your product is receiving some critical attention.

Please note that we are offering an exclusive deal to all MISI users of approx. 15% off 12 bars of dark or milk Rainforest Alliance Certified chocolate (48g), this promotion will be available throughout November and December.

Chocolate Update!

Three Years later...

I was totally shocked when I realised that The Chocolate Truffle Co., has been in business for three years which is a fantastic achievement!

I always imagined that having a business on the internet would result in instant recocognition. How wrong could a person be. I remember it took Google eight weeks to even find us on the internet...fortunately since those early days we're doing a lot better today.

It quickly dawned on me that I had to go and find customers rather than just waiting for them to turn up. Attending Farmers Markets and Food Fairs have proved to be excellent ways to meet new customers and gain valuable feedback. A big thank you to all my customers who have continued to come back time after time.

Great Ethical Chocolate!

One of the great benefits of my job is that you get to eat and taste a great variety of different chocolates. I was lucky to stumble upon the Rainforest Alliance who are a great organisation and an alternative to Fairtrade. To my surprise the chocolate actually tasted excellent especially the dark chocolate. So many ethical chocolates lack real taste and flavour.

I'm delighted to be associated with the Rainforest Alliance and its ethical values. Both our new chocolate bars Costa Rica 64 and Costa Rica 38 have proved particularly popular.

These particular varieties are produced from Costa Rican Trinitario cocoa beans. The dark chocolate delivers an exquisite bitter aroma with a strong flavour that is full of character. The milk chocolate has a slightly roasted, creamy smooth textuer, delivering full flavours and intense aromas.

Competition Time..

If you are a lover of chocolate this competition is for you.

In the past year we set up a small tasting panel for people who just love chocolate and don't mind putting their feedback on the internet. This has proved particularly successful for both sides and we'd like to increase the number of tasters on our books. If you want to take part in our tastings just answer this simple question.

You can find the answer on our web site at

http://www.thechocolatetrufflecompany.co.uk/

_{We make a cherry chocolate truffle, what is its name?}

_{Email your answer to christine@thechocolatetrufflecompany.co.uk}

There will only be ten lucky winners. Competition closes 13.09.09.

Good Luck!

Christine

Buy Chocolate help save the Rainforest

The Chocolate Truffle Company is delighted to announce that they are supporting Marigold Wood a 17 year old student, who is in her final year of college. This summer Marigold is embarking on a trip to Indonesia with the charity 'Operation Wallacea' where she will be carrying out conservation management work. In Indonesia, she will be working under university academics spending one week in the rainforest carrying out observations on terrestrial organisms there and one week investigating the state of the marine wildlife.

This information is then sent to organizations such as WWF and the World Bank, so that they can make valid decisions on where funding should be spent. Furthermore, whilst in Indonesia, she will be staying with local people. Part of the charity's work is to educate the locals on a more sustainable way of living, farming and hunting that does not damage their environment (which is the most biodiverse in the world.) In the past, Operation Wallacea's work in Indonesia has led to the discovery of 30 new vertebrate species and he re-discovery of 4 'extinct' ones. The work done out there is also often mentioned in reports and papers.  

To help Marigold raise the necessary funds for the trip the Chocolate Truffle Co. will donate £0.05 from the sale of every Costa Rica 64 chocolate bar via our web site between Jan and April 09.

Thank you for your support.
The Chocolate Truffle Company supports the Rainforest Alliance. 

Rainforest Alliance Chocolate