Organic cocoa beans and fair trade

Why we use organic, fair-trade cocoa beans in our coatings

Sustainable support benefits cocoa producers, protects the precious plant, and upholds the foundations of the chocolate industry

At es Koyama, coatings are made with organic, fair-trade cocoa beans primarily from Ecuador.

Ganache, a chocolate-cream mixture that forms the basis of a chocolate bonbon, must be made with a wide range of couverture chocolates selected depending on the character of the flavor sought and the compatibility of materials. This means there are limits to the number of ganache chocolate varieties that can be used in a single product. However, nearly every chocolate bonbon features a coating, meaning coating chocolate is used with great frequency and in large amounts. That’s why I decided to support the fair-trade chocolate business by using fair-trade cocoa beans for coatings.

Over the past four years, I’ve made numerous trips to the organic, fair-trade cocoa bean plantations of Ecuador. The experience, knowledge, and inspiration I’ve gained on these plantations are greater than I can possibly explain, but I wanted some way to express my gratitude. I could think of no better way than for us to purchase and use cocoa purchased at fair prices, in an ongoing fashion. This allows cocoa producers to lead sustainable lifestyles, improve working conditions, and turn out a higher-quality product. If the producers didn’t grow organic cocoa beans of such impeccable quality, we wouldn’t be able to make chocolate that meets our exacting standards. Moving forward, we will continue the pursuit of chocolate crafting in this spirit of gratitude and purpose.