Monday, August 24, 2009

You Had Me at Chocolate, Taza Chocolate

Once in a while along comes a product that is so awesome I can not wait to share everything about it and when my Taza Chocolate showed up a few days ago I knew this would be one of those times the moment the stone ground cacao hit my tongue.

Taza is a local company to me, based out of Somerville, Massachusetts, and not too long ago I started noticing their round chocolate discs at the cash wrap of a few of my favorite locations. When my friend and I saw them at the Farmer’s Market shortly after that I knew there must be something to them so I picked up a package of their Nibs to see what the fuss was about.

I used the Nibs in a lemon pie recipe and they were just the right thing to give it some balance. I wanted more. As a self proclaimed chocoholic and a Greenie I am always looking for the perfect pairing so when I find out how wonderful a company is in addition to their chocolate, I sit up and take notice.

Using recycled winnower and roaster, shipping boxes that can be recycled and traditional stone grinding methods is just the beginning of what makes Taza Chocolate cool. Their chocolate bars come in the shape of a disc and a fairly compensated human is involved in every step of the process from the picking of the cacao beans to the packaging of the bar.

Oh yeah, did I mention most of their chocolate is Vegan approved and all of their product is certified 100% organic? Not to mention that founders Alex Whitmore, Larry Slotnick and Kathleen Fulton spent a good number of hours simply sourcing their first beans. They were only interested in purchasing from a sustainable farm where fair treatment practices were standard. Right on!

The company is dedicated to the environment from recycling efforts to direct trade, a reduced carbon footprint in manufacture to energy saving practices in the factory. In addition to these solid efforts Taza Chocolate also will deliver their product to patrons in Somerville and Cambridge by bicycle and they allow for local direct pick up at the factory.

As if all of this wasn’t enough they are currently working with a few Green initiatives locally to do their part to keep the community beautiful! This includes GoGreen Somerville and through this partnership they have begun working toward a zero waste facility via composting, recycling and donation efforts.

I can not find a single thing about this company that is not amazing! Because of this I feel it is my duty to bestow the long strived for, yet infrequently achieved Five Leaf Rating!

Taza Chocolate you are going in my cupboard, tummy and on top of everyone’s gift from now on as a little something extra. Thanks for sharing your love. Here is some right back!
♥love♥

3 comments:

disabled account said...

they still haven't gotten back to me about sending me a sample for testing. i want chocolate too!! :)

Judi FitzPatrick said...

All I can say is - "yum"!

Almost Precious said...

Organic, eco friendly and chocolate...what's not to love ? I'll have to keep my eyes open and see if Taza's available in my local market.