We have a Brazil nut variety of chocolate that helps the families mentioned in your article (those that gather the brazil nuts in Peru). We use local ingredients from a centralized region of Peru, reducing the impact on the environment. Most “Fair Trade” chocolate is manufactured in Europe, so, not only do countries export the raw material for chocolate, but jobs as well. We have varieties with Quinoa and Kiwicha, psuedo-grains native to Peru that are being called “supergrains” for their complete protein and high fiber content. We also have a Peanut, Pecan, Coconut, and coffee variety.

La Orquidea(The Orchid), our brand, is being sold in Whole Foods on River Road in Bethesda MD USA. We can take orders on our website as well, where we email invoices through google checkout. We are a small company trying to do what is right, not what is easy. Thank you for bringing recognition to Fair Trade, and the areas of Fair Trade that need to be reformed.

http://www.peruvianchocolate.com

With food items you have a much better system in place to guarantee that people are paid so much for their product. By raising the price people directly benefit.

With handicraft there is much more opportunity to pay even under market for items and still call them ‘fair trade’, and wages are much harder to monitor. The ‘fair trade’ wage is in many cases already under market so you can potentially pay less and still market the ‘fair trade’ angle.

People talk about fair trade as though it is all encompassing, but there are very distinct issues. With commodities it is much easier to monitor the benefits as well as the compliance.