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Dan Abel, Jr. (left) is a mensch. For those who don’t know the word, it’s German for man, but as a Yiddish colloquialism, it means a good man.
Abel gets our vote because as of Saturday, March 1, his Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate retail/wholesale confection juggernaut began the process of going completely Fair Trade-certified.
Here’s what that means:
-Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate has joined a program whereby the business will source its cocoa beans and cane sugar from farmers in the tropics who are then guaranteed a fair price (more on that below)
-The gradual process begins for Abel’s company with the first six Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate products to bear the Fair Trade seal: almond butter toffee, creme mints, chocolate-covered peanut-butter pretzels, sea salt pecan burrs, sea salt popcorn bites, and rocky road marshmallows: those will be available at retail locations (all nine Chocolate Chocolate Chocolates, Lake Forest Confections, Dierbergs locations, and Dillard’s locations) beginning Monday, March 3.
-All Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate products will eventually follow suit, until the whole roster of chocolate products is Fair Trade
-The prices of the company’s confections will stay the same. The cost increases associated with going Fair Trade, Abel said, will be absorbed by the company.
That last one is probably the shocker. Abel explained that last year the chocolate factory (right) near Kingshighway Boulevard at I-44 erected a grid of solar panels on the roof, with help from local alt-power gurus Brightergy. (There’s a nifty video presentation on the solar panels and how much energy they conserve in the factory gift shop, over by the T-shirts printed in chocolate-scented brown dye.)
After that major project was completed, he said, it was time for the next green/sustainable/ethical initiative: going Fair Trade, which is designed to lift third-world farmers out of poverty, fund their community initiatives, and respect the land.
“It’s really cool that we can have a big impact on lots of farms thousands of miles away,” said Abel. “And not only that, but Fair trade actually encourages farmers to choose to grow cocoa, because it benefits them, their communities, their schools, and sustainability. What’s going on in the industry now is that there is a cocoa deficit – there’s more demand than supply. If we don’t encourage it, they might find growing palm or rubber more profitable, so a decision like this helps secure the future of the industry.”
If you choose to check out the new Fair Trade chocolates at the Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate factory, you can take a free factory tour and ogle huge copper kettles cooking caramels and toffees, marshmallows being whipped, temperature-controlled candy tables, hypnotic conveyor belts moving piece after piece of heavenly chocolate, and a capacious gift shop filled with coconut clusters, chocolate-covered orange peels, sea salt caramels, turtles in dozens of flavors, nonpareils, dipped nuts, and on and on.
In the world of chocolate, the next big holiday is Easter. Look for Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate’s chocolate Easter eggs with strawberry- or blueberry-flavored marshmallows inside.
Chocolate Chocolate Chocolate Factory tours & shop 5025 Pattison 314-338-3501 chocolatechocolate.com
