Happy Earth Day, dear friends! Here in Northern Michigan, spring is its usual tempestuous self, treating us to warm breezes and blue skies one day and blanketing us in snow the next. I’ve come to particularly love the changing of the seasons and find inspiration in the Earth’s ability to renew itself, over and over. I try to never take for granted the privilege it is to be alive to experience this full-of-wonders planet we’re lucky enough to call home!
At Grocer’s Daughter Chocolate, we strive to be conscientious stewards of the resources we touch in our business and we acknowledge that the world's abundance belongs to everyone (if we could only figure out how to share and preserve it)! In celebration of Earth Day, I want to take a moment to share some of the ways that we are working to support a planet-friendly chocolate industry.
Jody and Jenny from Conexión Chocolate at a Fortaleza Del Valle co-op drying facility in Ecuador
Biodiversity and Agroforestry
We source Nacional cacao, a rare heirloom cacao from Ecuador, with distinctive floral and fruit notes. Nacional cacao used to be common in Ecuador but is now less than half of the country’s crop due to industrial cacao farming. Cacao originated in South America and proliferated throughout Mesoamerica, but over the years many heirloom varieties have become rare.
Working with our friends at Conexión Chocolate, we get our cacao from small family farms, most with 8 hectares or less. And these are not single-crop farms: along with cacao, these small farms cultivate hardwoods, papaya, mango, citrus, avocado, banana, ginger, garlic, vanilla, peppers, and herbs of many varieties. Agroforestry is now a trendy term but many small family farms have been practicing it forever: combining crops and trees to increase plant and soil health.
Sustainability at the Shops
We are always seeking to upgrade to the most sustainable alternative we can source. Currently, we’re moving away from all single-use plastic packaging in our shops — more sweet and sustainable packaging updates are coming this year!
Local sourcing is a cornerstone of our business model, from our weekly deliveries of dairy and honey to the many fruits, teas, and spirits we use in our kitchen. We love supporting our local community and reducing food miles.
Have you enjoyed the Grocer’s Daughter Chocolate gardens, full of pollinators? Laurel Voran, gardener extraordinaire, has a passion for protecting native plant and animal species, so our gardens are full of pollinator-friendly plants. In late Spring and early Summer we often have a garden full of bees, butterflies and bunnies (but no bear yet this year)!
What’s next?
We’re working on B Corp certification for Grocer’s Daughter Chocolate. Lori and I just completed the B Corp impact assessment, and we hope to be certified by 2026. B Corps are committed to using business as a force for good, balancing profit with a social and/or environmental purpose.
Want to support sustainable cacao this Earth Day?
Please consider a donation to the Heirloom Cacao Preservation Fund, a nonprofit organization preserving the rapidly disappearing cacao trees that yield the highest quality, most exquisite chocolate.
Happy spring & happy Earth Day!
Jody Hayden
