Purchased direct from growers at

1,84x

of Fairtrade Price

We agree with our cacao growers on a multi-year fixed purchase price. This guarantees secure, stable incomes beyond the daily fluctuations of the world market cocoa price. To compare prices, we take the weighted average of all our local cacao price agreements, and compare it with the average annual Fairtrade price. This price can be calculated by adding the official Fairtrade premium for cocoa on top of the average annual world market price for cocoa as published by the International Cocoa Organisation.

In 2019, together, we guaranteed full living income for 165 cacao growing families.

In collaboration with our local partners, we document the average farm workers annual salary for each region we work in. Then we calculate how much dry cacao a farmer in this region would have to sell based on the agreed local Original Beans purchase price to earn a comparable full annual income only through cacao farming. Based on the exact volume of cacao used for our chocolate production in one year, we now calculate how many full-year incomes our purchase supports. In our calculations, the average family in Congo or Tanzania consists of seven family members and in Latin American of five family members.

In 2019, together, we improved the livelihoods for 6731 farmer families through sustainable cacao growing.

Most growers we work with come from subsistence farming and may not exclusively farm cacao, but earn additional incomes by growing and selling some coffee, mango, sugar cane, hard wood or banana. Sometimes, they also sell some of their cacao to others. So this number represents all cacao farming families who do not entirely rely on Original Beans for their income.

In 2019, together, we prevented Ebola infection among 4500 villagers in Congo.

Since March 2019, the Original Beans team of agronomists in Virunga, Eastern Congo, has expanded their daily work among cacao growing villagers to overcome Ebola measures and educate more than 4500 people, mostly women. Our team is faced with immense challenges of access and security in this remote region plagued by ongoing militia warfare and a virulent virus. But thanks to the courage and commitment of Erick and his team, zero cases of Ebola infection have been reported in the Original Beans villages to date. For more info click here.

In 2019, together, we empowered 2 select tribal cultures

which we consider leaders for a regenerative society: the Arhuaco in Colombia and the Zoque in Mexico. Our select tribal chocolates represent the deep traditions of these indigenous tribes who know—and grow—them best.