Food &Drink: Divine Chocolate Made with Ghanaian Cocoa

Divine Chocolate [Ghana]

[Image credits: Divine Chocolate]

Fairtrade packaging has often meant a palette of natural earthy colours and utilising materials like hemp, sisal and handmade paper as a way of giving added credibility to the principles of the product, and whilst there is nothing wrong with this products can end up looking samey-samey when vying for our attention on the store shelf. Eliciting comments like ‘It is refreshing to see a fair trade product packaged as beautifully as this’ (Lovely Package, 2009) and ‘…elegant packaging makes them the perfect gift’ (the Guardian Eco Store), Divine Chocolate made with Ghanaian cocoa is a brand I fell in love with the moment I laid eyes on the packaging, it definitely hit a spot.

[Image credits: Divine Chocolate]

Launched with the aim of targeting the mainstream luxury confectionery market in the UK, what is distinctive about the packaging is how it combines the past with the present, taking traditional Ghanaian motifs – which I now know to be Adinkra Symbols – and giving them a contemporary look without losing any of the meaning behind them. The result is a product that is sophisticated and truly regal in appearance. Not forgetting the actual contents, the chocolate itself is made from the finest Ghanaian cocoa and catering for most tastes the range includes Milk, White, Butterscotch, Hazelnut and Mint Chocolate to name a few. The name says it all and with an increasingly personal preference for dark chocolate I can attest that Divine chocolate is gorgeous, pure indulgence.

[Image credits: Divine Chocolate]

Beautiful packaging and yummy chocolate aside at the heart of the brand is a fairtrade story with a difference. Known as ‘Heavenly chocolate with a heart’, the chocolate came about when the cocoa farmers of Kuapa Kokoo (a Ghanaian co-operative of more than 40,000 cocoa farmers in approximately 1300 village societies) voted to invest in a chocolate bar of their own. The company Divine Chocolate brought together organizations including: Christian Aid, Comic Relief, Twin Trading and a Dutch NGO, SNV with the aim of helping Kuapa Kokoo, fairly trade their own cocoa directly to market without having to go through agents. Most notably, the Kuapa Kokoo farmers have the majority ownership stake in the company giving them greater say over what happens with the product, a status that was described by sceptics as a great idea that would never work, but one that has gone on to prove it’s critics wrong achieving some impressive pre-tax profits (Roger Trapp: the Independent, 2008).

– now that’s empowerment!

Read more about the Kuapa Koko farmers and their Divine Chocolate at www.divinechocolate.com

Additional Details:
Divine Chocolate can be found at selected retail outlets in the UK, Europe and US
In the UK prices start from around £0.75 for a 45g bar
Delivering to the UK only at present Divine Chocolate can be bought through their online shop at: www.divinechocolate.com
For customers in America visit: www.divinechocolateusa.com for retail locations and online shop