FAIR TRADE
In 1994, we launched Maya Gold, the first UK product to be awarded the Fairtrade Mark by the UK Fairtrade Foundation.
The flavor was inspired by a local drink the founders of Green & Black's drank while on vacation in Belize . Made with cocoa beans and spices, Kukuh was drunk by the Mayan farmers whose ancestors had originally domesticated the cocoa bean. They decided to recapture the taste and aroma of the rainforests in Green & Black's Maya Gold chocolate - a blend of intense dark chocolate with a refreshing twist of orange, perfectly balanced by the warmth of cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla.
However, the more important aspect of this product was the agreement Jo and Craig began on their trip with the local farmers. They discovered a large chocolate corporation had offered the Mayan farmers lucrative prices to plant hybrid cocoa trees instead of the indigenous variety, only to subsequently slash prices as world cocoa prices plummeted, leaving the community in economic ruin. They offered to trade direct with the growers, paying them a premium for their organic cocoa and an additional Fairtrade price.
