Thank you Raaka
for providing me with products to review, free of charge.
These are my own honest opinions.

We all love chocolate and Halloween is definitely one of those times of the year when were are bombarded with chocolate that’s been processed, loaded with sugar, coated in candy, and transformed in many other ways. I admit I loved all the candy bars as a kid but nowadays, I want more. Actually, I want less: less sugar, less denaturing mass production, less chemicals to grow cocoa beans, less wasteful packaging.

Raaka embodies all those principles. They offer some of the best organic and fair trade chocolate I’ve ever had. Raaka purchases their cocoa beans directly from co-ops and farms in the Dominican Republic, Bolivia, Ecuador, Belize and Madagascar who grow their cocoa beans without harmful pesticides and other chemicals. They pay for them at more than 20% over market price which means workers receive a fair salary for their hard work.

Every batch is made by hand without roasting cocoa beans and with as few ingredients as possible (as little as 2 ingredients for some bars!), which make them as natural and flavorful as can be. Beans from each regions have a distinct flavor, just like different kinds of grapes create different flavors of wine. In fact, at Raaka, they do not mix beans from different origins together so each bar showcases the unique aromas and flavors of a single cocoa-producing region.

Raaka also took extra steps towards being eco-responsible by parterning with an afterschool gardening program for kids in Brooklyn who use their cocoa husk as mulch and fertilizer! The paper used to wrap each bar is also as green as can be: it is made of FSC-certificed 100% post consumer recycled chlorine-free paper which was processed with sustainable wind-generated energy. They also opted for soy inks to print their lovely designs.

The innovations that Raaka brings into the chocolate world are not only about the sourcing, manufacturing, and packaging. The flavors they create are totally unique and amazingly delicious. To name just a few, they offer Bourbon Cask Aged (82% cacao), 71% Dark with Himalayan Pink Sea Salt, Maple and Nibs (75% cacao), and Vanilla Rooibos (67% cacao). With these mouth watering flavors, we are so far from the typical milk chocolate you find at the grocery store, it’s difficult to believe they actually have ingredients in common.

If you take your chocolate seriously, if you want to support eco-responsible and socially responsible small businesses, Raaka is definitely the place you want to get your chocolate fix from! Did I mention they have a great subscription program where they send 2 bars directly to your door every month? It’s called First Nibs and through it, you’ll be able to sample new bars every month but beware, you may get addicted to getting these delicious packages delivered to you every month.

From a grown-up perspective, this chocolate is all I want it to be: delicious, natural, fair-trade, and eco-friendly. What more could I ask for? Hum… maybe an endless supply because I find it disappears way too quickly!

Rachel