Chocolate facts and figuresBlog - Divine chocolate (2024)

FAQs

What is special about Divine Chocolate? ›

Divine Chocolate is a global social enterprise driven by a mission. Our mission is to help end exploitation in the cocoa industry, creating a world where farmers thrive and prosper. Our business model reflects the belief that producers should earn a share of the profits they help to create.

45% owned by Kuapa Kokoo, a Fairtrade cocoa farmers cooperative in Ghana. 43% shares owned by Twin Trading, an alternative trading organization based in London. 12% owned by Oikocredit, a Dutch microfinance institution.

Significant environmental, social, and commercial challenges face the cocoa sector. Deforestation, child labour and low farmer incomes all threaten the world's cocoa supply. Cocoa, moreover, is grown by highly vulnerable smallholder farmers, many of whom live below the poverty line.

Dark Chocolate

Of the seven bars we tested, five, or 71 percent, were above our levels for lead, cadmium, or both. Two bars—Divine 70% Deliciously Smooth Dark Chocolate and Sam's Choice (Walmart) Dark Chocolate 85% Cocoa—fell below CR's levels for both lead and cadmium, based on a serving of about 1 ounce.

Divine has demonstrated what 'doing business differently' looks like for the farmers, investors, employees, partners and all the people who love their chocolate. With an annual turnover of more than £14 million; Divine has successfully established the brand in some of the most valuable markets in the world.

Divine Chocolate is a global, farmer-owned chocolate company. We use the amazing power of chocolate to delight and engage. In the early 1990s, structural changes in the cocoa market in Ghana prompted Nana Frimpong Abebrese to begin creating a farmer-owned company to help farmers sell their own cocoa.

In 1997 the farmers (one man and one woman from every village) voted at their AGM to set up their own chocolate company in order to get their own slice of the valuable chocolate market. The next year Divine Chocolate was born.

The Divine Chocolate Origin Story:

In 1997, a co-operative was born in Ghana, Africa with over 2,000 cocoa farmers, called Kaupa Kokoo. It was established with the leadership of a local farmer, Nana Frimpong Abebrese, and an NGO, Twin Trading. Later that year, they voted to start a chocolate company of their own.

But did you know that there's a scientific reason why we crave it so much? Chocolate contains a compound called phenylethylamine, which releases endorphins in our bodies. Endorphins are the body's natural feel-good chemicals that produce feelings of happiness and satisfaction.

What is a fun fact about chocolate and love? ›

Chocolate and love dates all the way back to the Mayans

The first recorded link between chocolate and romance dates all the way back to the Aztecs. Emperor Montezuma was rumoured to eat cocoa beans to fuel his romances. It was said that cocoa was the food of the gods.

Divine Chocolate is Driven by a social mission:

We are the only Fairtrade chocolate company that is co-owned by cocoa farmers. This means smallholder farmers receive a share of the distributable profits from the sale of our chocolate, and a say in how the company is run.

We analyze our bars on a monthly basis for levels of various microbiological and chemical components including cadmium, aluminum, lead, nickel, and copper. For all of our varieties, Divine Chocolate is fully compliant and exceeds ALL safety and quality standards -- including those cited in the Consumer Reports study.

Friis-Holm Chokolade (Denmark) was the most awarded with 16 prizes, including 7 silvers and 9 bronzes. Other multi-award-winners this year included: Fu Wan Chocolate (Taiwan) with 11 prizes, Kasama Chocolate (Canada) 10 prizes, Fjåk Chocolate (Norway) 10 prizes. One of the highest scores went to Mary Chocolate Co.