Chocolate is everyone’s weakness and to put it into perspective, during the year 2018, the revenue of chocolate in America amounted to $26,497 Million U.S Dollars. (That’s a whole lotta cash). So if everyone’s craving chocolate, why not let that craving be satisfied by picking up your all vegan, animal-friendly, gluten-free, fair-trade, kosher and non-GMO, Endangered Species Chocolate Bar! This chocolate company’s mission will save endangered species everywhere.
Endangered Species Chocolate is an organization that takes a chocolate obsession and turns it into a profit to fulfill their promise of saving endangered species. They also offer some amazing chocolate flavors such as dark chocolate with caramel & spiced apple, dark chocolate with caramel & sea salt, dark chocolate with blueberries and the list goes on.
In each chocolate bar wrapper, you can learn the amazing facts of the animal that is on the front of the chocolate bar. You can decide to be educated on American Bald Eagles, Polar Bears, Jaguars, the Eurasian Eagle Owl and more! With each animal paired with a distinct flavor, safe to say there is one for everyone. The greatest part is that with every chocolate bar you buy, 10% of net profits are funding the worlds leading wildlife protection programs! Go you right!
How did the company begin?
Jon Stocking is the founder and president of Endangered Species Chocolate. He founded the company in 1994 when he witnessed the fishing practices of the pre-dolphin-safe tuna era in the early 1980’s. Stocking was just trying to make enough money to get through culinary school by working on a tuna boat. He witnessed the fishing nets go down and trap not only tuna but innocent sharks, dolphins, sea turtles and other sea creatures that weren’t meant to be captured. Stocking felt a need to save them. Stocking would jump off the boat like a badass, and untangle these creatures from the nets. He knew he couldn’t save them all so he had an idea.
Stocking felt so inspired by his experience that his idea was to create a chocolate company that would help protect endangered wildlife and ecosystems around the world. He saw no better way to help wildlife by pairing it with an indulgence that people love… chocolate. Stocking states “what better way to indulge in something than to satisfy your taste buds and conscience?” Not only did Stocking think about the millions of animals that would be saved, but he was conscious to produce quality chocolate that would be all natural, vegan, kosher, non-GMO, gluten-free and of course fair trade.
Where is the money going to?
Endangered Species Chocolate takes pride in reporting on their website the MANY organizations they have a GiveBack promise to. Since 2005, they have given $5 million to conservation networks. This contribution helped launch new species protection programs and saved 1.3 million acres of endangered species habitats! They are able to aid organizations such as the Rainforest Trust, Wildlife Conservation Network, Xerces Society, African Wildlife Foundation and more.
Achievements
Some amazing achievements consist of discovering a new species of shark, implementing extensive efforts in anti-poaching to protect African elephants, bringing cheetahs into the global conservation limelight and taking steps to fight global ivory sales.
Endangered Species Chocolate is also the first American produced chocolate company that uses fairtrade certified West African cocoa beans that can be fully traced from farm to shelf. Having fair trade chocolate means that fair prices are paid to the producers of the cocoa beans in West Africa (that’s something to be very proud of).
What you can do to make a difference
It’s as simple as going to your local grocery store or an online retailer and picking out your own Endangered Species Chocolate bar. Just by satisfying your sweet tooth, you can also make a difference to thousands of endangered species and their habitats. Now you and, countless others, have an amazing excuse to go buy some chocolate.