Belgium produces 270,000 tonnes of chocolate per year. Brussels Airport’s Belgian Chocolate House is the world’s largest chocolate outlet, selling about 800 tonnes per year. Chocolate plays an important part in the Belgian economy, and there are over 2,000 chocolatiers in the country.
Belgian chocolate means that the chocolate is made in Belgium, with all the know-how available here. The cocoa beans for ‘our’ chocolate naturally come from warmer and more exotic places. And, unfortunately, that is still often from places where child labour exists, and where terrible prices are paid for the cocoa beans, such as Ivory Coast in Africa. When buying chocolate, that is why it is important to consider smaller, artisan chocolate makers, who trade more directly, are more transparent and have a feel for the country and the people where their raw materials for Belgian chocolate come from. Chocolates from Heaven is one such brand with a mission.
As a young man in the 1990s, Koen Klingele studied tropical agriculture before subsequently turning his attention to development cooperation. However, he was destined for the world of chocolate. Today his fully-fledged chocolate factory is located on the outskirts of the beautiful historic city of Ghent. About 10 years ago, the Chocolates from Heaven brand, which produces fully organic and Fair Trade chocolate, came into being, with no ties to child slavery and offering a fair price for raw materials. Chocolates from Heaven also spends 2.5% of their turnover planting trees on and around the cocoa plantations in Papua New Guinea and Peru. The chocolate itself is heavenly tasty and made exclusively from the purest ingredients.
Credit : Amanvida
Picture Credit : Google
