Cocoa for Schools Project

It can be very easy to become blasé about 'Fair Trade' and other 'good causes' chocolate and also to wonder what good it actually does. When our chocolate supplier mentioned the new bars from Kim's Chocolate in aid of the Cocoa for Schools project I'll admit these thoughts went through my mind. However, when you read about the project and watch the documentary it is clear what a difference these chocolate bars and Kim's truly makes to the children and villages of Tanzania.

Fons Maex, the founder of Kim's Chocolates (a Belgian Chocolate company) recognises that just building the schools or renovating the classrooms is not enough. Communities need to be engaged and to realise the importance of education and to be invested in this education. Home and hygiene need to be improved and the building should be done sustainably in a way that doesn't harm the villages' environment. His plans for now and the future are incredible, this is truly a long term project. If you have time I would really recommend watching the documentary below, I am amazed at what this project has already achieved and it's mission.

By the end of 2017 over 200 classrooms had been completed and by the end of 2018 another 344 will have been finished! By 2023 the aim is to have built or fixed more than 1900 classrooms. For schools that can have 100 kids in a class that is a lot of children whose education and life prospects will have been improved.

In addition to the schools, they help the village farmers by teaching them the best available practices to grow cocoa. They distribute cocoa seedlings to the farms to help increase their yield and earnings, in 3 years they supplied almost 250,000 plants virtually free of cost to farmers.

From a customers perspective it's really easy to help with this project as the chocolate is delicious! The 100g Cachet Organic chocolate bars come in 8 flavours at £2.95 a bar (so far I've tried the Milk Chocolate, the Dark Chocolate with Forest Fruits and the Milk Chocolate with Caramel and Sea Salt and it's difficult to choose between them, although the Forest Fruits might just be a tiny bit ahead). The cocoa is 100% Tanzanian and the bars are made in Belgium by Kim's. The inside of each wrapper has information about one of the schools in the project along with photos.

As well as Kim's themselves funding the projects, our Chocolate Supplier is also donating 10p for every bar sold to Cocoa for Schools and has so far raised 10,000 euros to build four schools in Kabanga.

We really hope that you enjoy this chocolate as much as we have in our taste tests and that we are able to sell these bars for a long time, together making a difference to many lives in Tanzania. (Let us know your favourite flavour!).

I really would urge you to find the time at some point to watch this documentary, you won't regret it.