April Vendor of the Month: Alter Eco
You may be all too familiar with the Alter Eco chocolate truffles featured at the Wheatsville checkout stands. These truffles are small but mighty, just like the company they originate from: Alter Eco.
With a history going back to 1998, Alter Eco’s focus on Fair-Trade and Organic certified products has more recently expanded to additional environmental responsibility. As a certified B Corporation (businesses that meet the highest standards of verified social and environmental performance) Alter Eco’s company mission is to pioneer a full circle approach to eating, farming, and doing business – and to inspire others to do the same. Their plan for Full Circle Sustainability is laid out in transparent detail in the Alter Eco 2019 Sustainability report; available online at alterecofoods.com
Here’s the highlights:
RESTORING FORESTS
Transitioning cacao farmers away from monoculture farming to regenerative agriculture, known as “agroforestry”. Agroforestry adds double the amount of trees and up to 15 different species of trees per acre, such as timber trees next to banana trees next to cacao trees. Other crops planted with cacao trees include nitrogen fixing plants (fava beans tamarind), roots (cassava, yucca), fruit trees (mango, plantain) and grains (maize). The outcome of agroforestry is increased biodiversity of insects & animals, restored soil, increased carbon absorption, land that is more drought resistant and absorbs more carbon.
In the fall of 2020, the Alter Eco Foundation was launched to further agroforestry with a $1.5 million investment in transitioning 800 cacao farmers in Ecuador and 100 farmers in the Dominican Republic to dynamic agroforestry.
INVESTING IN FARMERS
Directly working with fair trade certified, small-scale farmers. Alter Eco works with 7 cooperatives worldwide from Ecuador to India to source the ingredients for their chocolates. That’s a total of 24,300 farmers being paid a Fair Trade premium, and Organic premium and an additional Alter Eco premium for their work. Partnered since 2011, Unocace Co-op in Guayaquil, Ecuador provides 41% of the cacao purchased by Alter Eco.
NET ZERO CARBON
Three Steps to Carbon Neutral Footprint:
MEASURE - Alter Eco rigorously measures its carbon footprint each year. 2019: 3,964 tCO2e
REDUCE - Alter Eco can reduce 33% emissions through implementing new cacao agricultural practices i.e. pod composting, agroforestry.
OFFSET - In 2019 Alter Eco’s yearly offset led to 3,289 planted, 2.6 million trees protected, 16,860 acres protected
ELIMINATE WASTE
Committed to 100% compostable or recyclable non-plastic packaging.
14.7 million compostable truffle wrappers were diverted from landfills in 2019!
Wheatsville proudly carries Alter Eco Fair Trade and Organic certified chocolate truffles, original chocolate bars and new grass-fed milk chocolate bars. Look for new Keto friendly choices from Alter Eco in the near future and stay up to date by visiting their website!
