From the small cocoa plantations of Ghana to the factories of Holland, a chocolate bar already in the mainstream markets in England is hoping to draw attention to the fair-trade cause in Madison and hopefully to the rest of the country.
Most of the world's cocoa comes from small, family-owned farms in Ghana. The low market price for cocoa does not provide enough income, and families struggle to pay for food, health care and education.
Farmers joined together in the 1990s, with the assistance from Twin Trading and Comic Relief, and formed the Kuapa Kokoo, or good cocoa farmers.
Divine Chocolate is a fair-trade chocolate, which means the Kuapa Kokoo's 40,000 farmers are paid above market prices, enough to make a sustainable living and afford necessities, such as food, health care and education.
They receive the profits from the sale of the candy and have representation in the company.
\Good things come from fair trade, profits go towards community projects, such as scholarships for schools,"" said fair-trade chocolate coordinator Sam Tokheim.
Tokheim works for the Madison-based Sales Exchange for Refugee Rehabilitation Vocation, which sells fair-trade goods and is the only U.S. distributor of the fair-trade chocolate.
According to Tokheim, Divine Chocolate was launched in the United Kingdom in 1998 and has become so popular it competes with name-brand chocolates'something he hopes to accomplish in the United States and particularly in Madison.
Tokheim is also looking for individuals, campus organizations, churches and other groups to use Divine Chocolate for club fund-raisers and to promote fair trade.
""Consumers put two and two together and buy products that do not hurt the environment and are sociably responsible,"" Tokheim said.
Divine Chocolate contains 70 percent cocoa and chocolate, with over 60 percent cocoa considered premium chocolate standards. The average chocolate has 20 percent cocoa and more of the cheaper ingredients, including sugar and milk.
The difference in ingredients gives Divine Chocolate a unique texture and taste. Deliciously creamy thanks to the higher amount of cocoa butter (listed as ""fair-trade cocoa butter"" on the package), Divine Chocolate lives up to its name. At the higher price of $1.25 a bar, though, you may have to choose between your conscience and your wallet.
Divine Chocolate is available at the Michelangelo's Coffee House, 114 State St.; Catacombs Coffee House, 731 State St.; Mifflin Street and Williamson Street Grocery Cooperatives and SERRV (Sales Exchange for Refugee Rehabilitation Vocation) International's store, 122 State Street.
The Mifflin Street Co-op, 32 N. Bassett St., supplies Divine Chocolate in conjunction with its mission to provide both an alternative food resource and be a working model for socioeconomic structures that seek to replace the values represented by the monopoly capitalist social system, according to co-op employee Raechel Pundsack.
""Divine Chocolate is one of the only options for fair-trade chocolate,"" she said.
The Willy Street Co-op, 1221 Williamson St., has carried Divine Chocolate for about a year.
""There has been an increase in consumer demand for fair-trade products in the last few years,"" said Wynston Estis, Willy Street Co-op Store merchandiser.
""Divine Chocolate has appeal because its cocoa and cocoa butter are fair-trade. The money goes straight back to the cocoa farmers at a fair-trade price,"" she said.
