our mission

Our mission is to make the most delicious chocolate possible while building and maintaining healthy and valuable relationships with our global community, our planet and each other.

Strides have been made in the cocoa industry to combat exploitative trade, yet unfair working conditions continue.  Raaka is working to build a new model for trade agreements that maximizes global trade’s potential for community development.

our goal for 2013

We’re aiming to finalize our first trade agreement with cocoa farmers in Cap Haitien, Haiti this year! Fair trade cocoa beans haven’t shipped out of Haiti for years, and we’re going to work to see that it happens.

what we do now

We currently purchase cocoa beans that have been directly traded with La Red Guaconejo (a co-op of 160 family farms in Northern Dominican Republic), Hacienda Elvecia (an organic farm in Eastern Dominican Republic), and CIAAB (a co-op in Bolivia). The cocoa farmers from whom we purchase cocoa beans receive at minimum $500 above market price per metric ton of cacao beans. At today’s cocoa prices, this is equivalent to a 20% raise.

green practices

Recycled Paper – All our bars are wrapped in paper designed by our earth-conscious friend Elissa Barbieri at Loop. Loop’s paper is printed with soy inks on FSC-certified, 100% post consumer recycled, chlorine-free paper that was processed by wind generated energy.

Cocoa husk reuse – All of our cocoa husk is donated to Edible Schoolyard NYC, an after-school gardening program at P.S. 216 in Brooklyn. They use our husk as mulch and fertilizer. We think it’s pretty cool that our waste can help them grow food.

Organic, Fair Trade ingredients – we use organic ingredients when available and fair-trade sugar.