Alter Eco and the El Ceibo Cooperative

We are carrying a delicious new deep milk chocolate that tastes good and is good for farmers in developing nations. The bar, called Dark Chocolate Velvet, is a 46% milk chocolate made from organic fair trade cane sugar from Paraguay and organic fair trade cocoa from Bolivia. It is the result of a collaboration of Alter Eco in France and the El Ceibo Cooperative in Bolivia. As one of my new favorite chocolate bars here at Bittersweet, I am glad to read about the sustainable practices that go into making this chocolate. That and the bar is our only one from Switzerland and its velvety texture is truly a testament to the centuries of chocolate craft tradition in the region.


Alter Eco is a fair trade organization based in France. It started in 1998 and quickly built up its name in the Fair Trade Movement thanks to its unique marketing and extensive product range. Considered to be one of the strongest Fair Trade brands on the market, Alter Eco offers over 100 products that are sourced from 42 cooperatives in 37 countries. The organization took the Fair Trade Movement forward in 2006 when it approached Brazilian retailers to sell Brazilian products under Fair Trade terms, hereby creating the first South-South Fair Trade arrangement. All Alter Eco products are Fair Trade Certified by TransFair USA.

The El Ceibo Cooperative formed out of the ashes of the Brazilian government's cocoa coop, which went bankrupt in the 60s. After its bankruptcy, farmers were forced to sell to local middlemen because of the difficulty of transportation to La Paz coupled with their lack of knowledge of market prices. In the early 70s, farmers in the Alto Beni region in northeast Bolivia formed small cocoa coops, and in 1977, 37 of these small coops united to form the stronger El Ceibo Cooperative. In 1988 El Ceibo became the first certified organic cocoa cooperative in the world. Since then, the coop has reinvested its profits into its community: they provide allowance for school fees to their members, give out yearly bonuses to members over 65, reinvest in trucks and improvements in their processing facilities, operate a technical assistance program in agroecology and forestry, research alternative cultivation methods, and provide all members with health and accident insurance. Today, El Ceibo is responsible for 70% of the organic cocoa production in Bolivia.