The cost of our products is fully determined by how much the preparing group prepares at the source. In short, in our model a lot more money stays in the source country compared to other cacao and chocolate models. As of 2022, the price paid for a pound of conventional cacao seeds (aka “cocoa beans”) at the source was equivalent to $1.09 USD. A bit more might stay with the people aggregating and exporting the seeds… but a huge amount of money ends up in another country. This can be considered an unethical model of extraction. Part of the problem is that the price of conventional cocoa fluctuates based on the stock market, where it is traded as a commodity. The “fair trade” movement has sought to create a more consistent income for internationally traded products like cacao. It’s a great intention, but even including “premiums” (which are intended to help with things like community projects), the fair trade rate for cacao is currently about $1.36 per lb. That’s only $0.27 more than the commodity rate, and doesn’t add up to much of a difference when talking about metric tonnes. Occasionally we see brands say that they pay 2x or 200% the fair trade rate for the seeds. That is indeed good for the farmers involved. But if the brand is importing raw seeds to finish the cacao in a factory and still calling it “ceremonial cacao,” it means that indigenous people and practices are being cut out of the process. Hoping to change this trend, we purchase finished cacao paste that has been toasted over wood fire and peeled by hand by indigenous collective in the country where the cacao grows. This isn’t a process we came up with. It’s the way it has been done for thousands of years. We’re simply supporting the preservation of those traditions. Our model currently sends an average of $15.25 per pound back to the source country. That’s just over 11x or 1100% the fair trade rate. This difference can have a profound effect for more families and communities in cacao-growing nations. Read our longer article on this subject here.