Pacari Chocolate UK

Pacari Chocolate is the highest rated “Best Buy ethical chocolate” in the UK within 99 products, by Ethical Consumer Magazine.

Producing from Tree to Bar in Ecuador

Pacari chocolate is produced and packaged in Ecuador, a country where cacao beans actually grow. In contrast, ‘Bean to Bar’ chocolate is where cacao beans are imported from developing countries with the rest of the production taking place in the UK or other non cacao growing countries. When chocolate is produced from ‘Tree to Bar’ this allows over 50% of the wealth to stay in the country of origin and contribute to its development. With sustainable ‘Bean to Bar’ chocolate, typically less than 7% remains in the country.

Sadly on the UK market around 1% of the chocolates available are produced in cocoa growing countries.

Supporting Local Farmers and Communities

Pacari supports over 4,000 families in Ecuador. Pacari supports local farmers by working with them directly, not with middle men doing what is known as direct trade. We pay these farmers a significant premium over market prices and fairtrade cacao prices, to ensure they are fairly compensated for their products and hard work. Pacari also supports the local economy in other ways by creating job opportunities beyond farming such as technicians, designers, chocolatiers and sales and shop staff, this also generates important know-how in Ecuador, that is also very valuable for its communities and economy. Pacari is working with indigenous communities in the Zancudo Concha community, in a project with WWF-Ecuador, paying and supporting them to get the organic certification, Pacari also pays 60% more than local average price providing the communities with fair and on-time payments, helping them to improve their livelihoods and protect the environment. You can also read more about this project in the WWF-Ecuador page in Spanish.

Ethical; Fair Trade and B Corporation certified enterprise

Pacari Chocolate is one of the very few chocolates that not only uses fair trade certified cacao beans, but has been recognised as Guaranteed Fair Trade Enterprise by the World Fair Trade Organisation.

By achieving this certification Pacari has shown once again that it is a company that transforms the communities in which it works with farmers, promotes environmental care, empowers women and practices organic agriculture. The WFTO seal guarantees that members are fair trade companies, which makes them pioneers in business models that prioritise people and the planet.

Pacari Chocolates is proud to be a Certified B Corporation which is the mark of businesses that balance purpose and profit.

Protecting Nature

Pacari only uses ingredients that are 100% certified organic. This means that no pesticides, harmful fertilisers or genetically modified products were used in any part of the supply chain. Pacari is also one of the only chocolate companies with the Demeter Biodynamic Certification. This is awarded when material production takes place in an auto-regenerative ecosystem  free from chemicals, pesticides and fertilizers, maintaining an ecological balance between animals, insects, soil, plants and humans and protecting biodiversity.

Our award winning chocolates are a perfect example of team work between WWF Ecuador, Pacari and the indigenous communities in Cuyabeno in the Ecuadorian Amazon, who strive for sustainable livelihoods and responsibility towards their natural environment. The cacao that Pacari uses is an excellent alternative for them: it grows in areas of agroforestry, under the shade of native trees, resulting in protecting the biodiversity of the Amazon rainforest and avoiding deforestation, which is a huge issue in the cacao industry where most of the cacao comes from plantations made in deforested areas. Together we support these communities in the sustainable development of this amazing cacao fino de aroma, one of the finest cacao in the world.

Find more about this initiative that helps to protect the Jaguar, Tapir, River Dolphin and Capuchin Monkey and the Amazon rainforest by making a click here.

Pacari’s chocolate are all palm oil free and soy free, which is one way of disassociating us from deforestation of the Amazon rain forest caused by this. Pacari does not use any cacao from big monoculture cacao plantations that most of the time are related to deforestation caused by cacao. Pacari wants to contribute to keep the biodiversity from the Amazon rainforest and it is what it takes different actions that contribute make this possible.

Recycling to reduce waste

In addition to this, most of our packaging is 100% recyclable. Our chocolate bars are wrapped in recyclable aluminium foil (inner packaging) and cardboard (outer packaging).

Recently during 2020 we started to add to our line the chocolate bars with 100% compostable inner packaging, this means that the material use to protect the chocolate bars inside our boxes is completely compostable with water (humidity) in just 180 days and does not leave any sort of damaging residues. Today most of our mini bars are with this packaging and all our raw 100% and raw 101% cacao plus the chocolates with golden berries have this packaging. We hope that by 2021 all our chocolate bars will have this material.

Since June 2019 all the postal packaging used by Pacari UK are plastic free, recyclable and compostable.

Planting Trees in Amazon Rainforest of Peru

From the end of July 2019 we started to partner with One Tree Planted charity, aiming to help them to plant thousands of new trees in the Amazon rainforest of Perú. We now give you the option to buy one or more trees for less than £1 per tree, with every chocolate order. We are also planting new trees for every tree planted by you. Together we have planted more than 500 tress and we are sure we can do better. This is another way we have to contribute to reserve the damaged caused by deforestation and act on this climate crisis.

More than 60% of Peru is covered by the Amazon rainforest. This reforestation project is located in the Madre de Dios region, home to over 10 percent of the world’s bird species. The goal is to restore and protect the “buffer zone” between Tambopata National Reserve, Bahuaja-Sonene National Park, and the city of Puerto Maldonado.

Good Brand Award 2020 / Sublime Magazine

Pacari has been awarded the Good Brand Award by Sublime Magazine in 2016 and now again in 2020, in recognition of advancing Social & Environmental Sustainability. Again another step in the right direction.