The Pitfalls of Natural, Organic and Fair Trade

A new product just introduced by Mont Blanc Gourmet at the SCAA show is a line of Single-Origin cocoa-powder mixes that are certified Organic and Fair Trade. We wanted to develop the cocoa powders to give customers options they could not get with chocolate syrups. In general, powder mixes can be made with organic cocoa powder, can use traditional sugar instead of other sweeteners and have a long shelf life. However, getting them certified was one of the most frustrating product-development challenges we have ever experienced. 

The first requirement was for the powders to be Single-Origin. Single-Origin defines the geographic regions where the cacao beans are grown. We tested Single-Origin cocoa powders from a half dozen countries in Africa, South America and the Caribbean, and chose two, from the Dominican Republic and Peru, to launch the line.  

The recipe is simple: Single-Origin cocoa powder, sugar and vanilla. No artificial ingredients or preservatives, so it seemed obvious that they would be labeled all-natural. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case. The cocoa powders we chose are alkalized, meaning that an alkali is added to mellow the flavor and balance the natural acidity of the cocoa powder. Alkalized cocoa powders are very common, but according to federal labeling regulations, they can’t be labeled natural because the cocoa powder has another ingredient added to it. The irony is that natural-foods stores such as Whole Foods, which are among the strictest arbiters of which ingredients can and cannot be used in the products they choose to sell, allow alkalized cocoa powders. So these powder mixes, with three ingredients and no artificial ingredients or preservatives, cannot be labeled all-natural. 

The next stumbling block was the Single-Origin designation. Upon closer inspection, one of the cocoa powders that we preferred was made with only 90 percent beans from Peru, while the remainder came from other countries. So that powder was rejected, and we continued cupping and tasting until we found one we liked that we could prove was 100 percent Single-Origin. 

We determined that the cocoa powders we wanted to use were organically grown, so we applied for organic certification. Certifying the product as organic, however, required that it contain both organic sugar and organic vanilla, which took further sourcing of suppliers and tweaking of the formula but was accomplished.  

Next, we applied for Fair Trade certification, only to discover that one of the organic cocoa powders wasn’t certified to be Fair Trade because it didn’t come from a co-op. Again, it was back to the source to find another cocoa powder that was both Organic- and Fair Trade-certified that also met our taste requirements. We finally found one that satisfied all the criteria. 

It was a long, confusing process because each of the requirements we wanted resulted in contradictory and conflicting labeling issues. The Single-Origin alkalized powder, which can’t be labeled natural, is organic but not Fair Trade. The Single-Origin Fair Trade-certified powder wasn’t organic. The natural (unalkalized) cocoa powder that was organic and Fair Trade wasn’t 100 percent Single-Origin. One powder was perfect — 100 percent Single-Origin, Organic and Fair Trade — but in a drink, it tasted like a combination of wet cardboard and dirt, so it was rejected. Ultimately, we found the powders we needed that tasted good and had the attributes we required, but it has been a challenge conforming to all of these different standards. 

I hope these cocoa powders are well received and that the attributes of Single-Origin, Organic and Fair Trade resonate with our customers. However, this process also highlights how difficult it can be to bring good causes such as Organic and Fair Trade into alignment with a product. It shouldn’t have been this difficult. And for now, I’m not even going to think about Rain Forest and Bird Friendly certifications!