Building Stronger Communities with Fair Trade Microgrants

October 23, 2024

Dare to do better. Better for the people. Better for the planet. Better for all. That’s our goal. With Project Tocache, we funded a much-need infrastructure program to bring clean water to cacao farming communities in Peru. This year, we’re proud to donate 1% of sales from our Signature Bars to build stronger cacao growing communities with a new microgrants program with Fair Trade USA™.

The fair trade difference

Building stronger socially and environmentally sustainable communities, both locally and globally, is one of our core values. The cocoa industry has a dark history fraught with unsustainable farming practices, child labor, slave labor, and poverty, with many cocoa farmers earning only a few dollars a day. 

Making chocolate is hard work. If we don’t take steps to fix the current status quo, there won’t be a future with chocolate. For the past 20+ years, we’ve proudly partnered with Fair Trade USA™ to foster social and environmentally sustainable development for farming communities.

“By ensuring 100% of Lake Champlain Chocolates is Fair Trade Certified, LCC joins Fair Trade USA™ in revolutionizing responsible business, conscious consumerism, and shared value to eliminate poverty and foster sustainable development for farmers, workers, their families, and communities globally.”  - Fair Trade USA™

A new microgrants program

This year, we are proud to expand our partnership with Fair Trade USA™ and pioneer a new microgrants program. As part of this revolutionary new program, we will donate 1% of sales from our Signature Bars directly to cocoa, sugar, and vanilla farming communities. These microgrants will go above and beyond the fair trade Community Development Funds, and allow farming communities access to money to build schools, bring clean water to their villages, or build healthcare facilities (just to name a few).

Microgrants will allow farming communities and workers to collectively decide on which development project addresses their community’s greatest needs and then give them access to additional financial resources to complete these much-needed projects sooner.

Let chocolate change your world®

Over the next year our goal is to offer targeted support for essential development needs related to the environment, water, sanitation, and women's empowerment by providing additional financial resources to minority groups with disproportionate access to funding.  By layering microgrants on top of the Community Development Funds provided in the fair trade model, we aim to bridge the gap between current realities and the vision to ensure a sustainable future for farmers.

“By providing additional financial resources, farmers can invest in practices and infrastructure that will dramatically impact the health of their local community environment, enhancing their ability to remain on their land and care for their families.”  - Fair Trade USA™

Microgrants will allow communities to address real challenges in their daily lives. This new initiative supports immediate improvements and fosters sustainable farming practices, which will ultimately contribute to a more equitable and resilient agricultural system. Check back regularly for updates on how this new program is building a stronger future (filled with gourmet chocolate) for all!

March 1, 2025

Meet our 2025 Fair Trade Microgrant Recipients!

We’re excited to announce our 2025 Fair Trade Microgrant recipients:
-    Cooperativa Agraria Granos de Oro Del Valle de Pangoa
-    Aprovraem Café Y Cacao
Throughout 2025, 1% of our Signature Bar sales will be donated to these two cacao and coffee farming cooperatives in Peru to fund the planting of over 46,000 trees with two separate agroforestry programs.

Planting Trees to Restore our Ecosystems

Climate change, with its extreme rainy seasons followed by prolonged dry seasons, has wreaked havoc in the Province of Satipo, Peru where the Cooperativa Agraria Granos de Oro Del Valle de Pangoa is located. With funds from our Fair Trade Microgrants program, the cooperative will plant 6,000 trees of varying native varieties over the next year. Planting trees will restore vegetation coverage in degraded areas, help mitigate climate change, promote biodiversity in the region, and conserve areas of precious water resources. As part of this initiative, the farmers will also receive training in more sustainable agroforestry management systems. The reforestation project will directly benefit 100 members of the cooperative and aims to not only improve the productivity and quality of the farmers’ coffee and cacao products but ensure a more sustainable future for all in the area.

Building a More Sustainable Future

The Aprovraem Café y Cacao is another coffee and cacao farming cooperative in the Province of Satipo, Peru that has suffered the negative effects of climate change in the region. Loss of biodiversity, declining soil fertility, and the scarcity of forest resources, combined with heavy rains and prolonged drought have exacerbated the vulnerability of farmers in this area. They plan to use their Fair Trade Microgrant funds to build a nursery that will produce 40,000 seedlings of native species and offer forest management training. The nursery aims to repair the adverse effects of “deforestation and degradation due to agricultural expansion and inadequate resource management.” This agroforestry program will increase forest cover for 80 hectres of land and will directly benefit 300 farming cooperative members. The Aprovraem Café Y Cacao cooperative plans to promote environmental sustainability and socioeconomic development through reforestation and capacity building of their producers.  They expect their tree nursery will be a long-term model that other organizations in the area can replicate.

Better Chocolate for All

It is more important than ever to support our farmers because climate change, disease, drought, and unfair labor practices have negatively impacted cacao farmers (which is causing a global cacao shortage and chocolate prices to reach record highs). We need to build a more sustainable future for  cacao farmers. Our Fair Trade Microgrants will plant 46,000 trees in Peru over the next year. These microgrant funds will increase the resilience of the areas agroforestry systems, increase biodiversity and environmental sustainability in the region, and ultimately improve the quality of life for coffee and cacao farmers and the farming communities in Peru. By purchasing our Signature Chocolate Bars, you too can help ensure a brighter, more sustainable future of chocolate for all!