Divine Chocolate: Fair Trade

Name: Divine Chocolate
Brand: Divine
Place Purchased: sample from Equal Exchange
Price: £0.65 (online)
Size: 1.5 ounces
Calories per ounce: 162-165
Type: Chocolate



These little 45 gram bars are a wonderful example of how a niche product can break out big in the wide candy world. Made in the UK from fair trade cocoa beans, these bars come not only in the familiar milk and dark varieties, but also an orange flavored bar and they've also introduced a smaller bar for kids called Dubble.

The dark chocolate bar is smoky and rich and has a good, complex flavor to it. Very woodsy with aslighth dry finish. The chocolate is smooth but a little waxy at first as it warms up on the tongue, but there's no hint of grain at all. At 70% cocoa solids, this is a very chocolately bar but doesn't have that crumbly feel that some have. The snap was good and personally, I prefer a chunky bar to a flat one.



The milk chocolate bar is very European, with a strong dried milk component to it. It's very sweet but has a good chocolate taste and is smooth and rich on the tongue. AT 27% cocoa solids, this is a very milky bar (using both dried milk and dried cream).

Again, you're probably asking, why pay a bit more for the same quality? Well, in this case more money is going directly to the farmers who produce the cocoa beans. Farmers (by this I mean the folks who actually tend the plants, harvest the beans and prepare them for shipping) not only get a decent wage, they are guaranteed income through long-term contracts and the company supports education for children in the area. Economic stability provides political stability which in turn helps to turn the African economy to a more sustainable one not based on government aid wherecommunitiess build themselves through their agriculture and small industry.

One note about how Divine and Equal Exchange differ - Divine is NOT organic. If you're looking for a bottom-to-top socially responsible chocolate, go with Equal Exchange because its cocoa farming is organic and is working with cooperatives in multiple locations as well as using organic, unprocessed sugar. If you're looking for a move in the right direction (or don't have access to EE), then go Divine and support the widest possible marketing efforts (hey, buy some from both and help farmers in Peru, Dominican Republic and Ghana!).

Rating - 7 out of 10

See earlier review of Equal Exchange.