Honorable Sourcing
Cultivate Better Cocoa is our premium-based program designed to create a positive impact at the supply chain level, benefiting the farmers and communities we work with. Through Cultivate Better Cocoa, we engage with cooperatives and development partners to create innovative, comprehensive programs that drive positive change for farmers, communities, and the environment.
The funds we receive through this program are directly allocated to supporting farm-level productivity, quality and flavor investments, gender equality, income diversification, health, nutrition, and agroforestry initiatives.
Where we get our ingredients and the social conditions under which they are grown are central to our work—and integral to our definition of quality.
Certifiers play a crucial role in ensuring essential practices on the farm level. They also hold implementation and coops accountable for efforts being made while setting industry standards for training in good agricultural practices, cooperative governance and community engagement. Cocoa from our Cultivate Better Cocoa programs come from farms, coops or farmer organizations that are UTZ/Rainforest Alliance and/or Fair Trade Certified. Our commitment to certification goes beyond just third-party certification; in addition to our retail product line carrying Fair Trade USA certification, we also offer UTZ/Rainforest Alliance and Fair Trade certifications for our customers that feel certification is the right sustainability approach for their business. Our Fair Trade program is one that we’ve developed since 2007, when we introduced our first Fair Trade Certified product; since then, we’ve continued a robust and committed relationship with the organization and their farmer groups through our Beneficiary Coop Model.
RBGH Free
Dairy
We’re fortunate to work with dairy suppliers who are committed to sustainable agriculture and dairy production and who don’t use growth hormones such as rBGH.
Non GMO
Sugar
Our domestic and overseas sugar farmers and suppliers use sustainable agricultural practices, enabling them to reduce the environmental footprint of growing and refining sugar without growing GMO crops.
Sunflower
Lecithin
We use sunflower lecithin in all of our chocolate and chocolate products. While lecithin itself is a minor ingredient in our final product, sunflower lecithin provides an added health and wellness benefit.
Sustainable
Palm Oil
In 2017 Guittard joined as a member of the Round Table on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), the leading organization dedicated to addressing the challenges around palm oil production.