As the first and only organic and Fair Trade chocolate factory in the U.S., bringing Theo Chocolate to our stores as part of our Whole Trade Guarantee makes perfect sense. They have a bar for everyone, but I’m partial to their Ivory Coast Dark Chocolate Bar with 75% Cacao and the Venezuelan 91% Chocolate Bar. And you have to check out their Jane Goodall “good for all” bars, which are now exclusively available at Whole Foods Market stores. Learn more about their high standards for social and environmental responsibility. Their excellent outreach work is exemplified by Juanita Vilchez’s story below.

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Imagine a world where honey bees are your family’s livelihood. The hives are tucked deep in the jungles of Chiapas and Quintana Roo, and have been tended by Mayan communities for generations. Although there is a centuries-old beekeeping tradition there, honey production has only recently been recognized as a viable and stable income opportunity in the global market.

In years past, middlemen, or “coyotes,” took a majority of the beekeepers’ income. With assistance from TransFair USA, Wholesome Sweeteners is able to pay a fair price directly to the beekeepers, who have formed vibrant worker-owned cooperatives that create meaningful employment, improve product quality, and send their children to school – until now, an unaffordable luxury in these economically-depressed regions. Additionally, by protecting the hives and native plant forage areas, Fair Trade encourages biodiversity and helps the forests thrive.

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If you aren’t on a vegan diet, chances are you didn’t know that all sugar isn’t considered vegan. It doesn’t come from an animal so what’s the issue? Bone char. Bet you didn’t know that many sugars are processed with bone char either. Bone char, usually made from the bones of cows, is used in the decolorization process for sugar – meaning it whitens the sugar through a filtration process. Standard sugar packages won’t explain all of this, but the process is unacceptable to many vegans and they avoid sugar as a result.

But that may be about to change when all the vegans out there find out about our 365 Everyday Value™ Vegan Cane Sugar (which retails for about $4 for a 4-pound bag). Our vegan sugar goes through a 100% animal-free carbon deactivation process to decolorize. This carbon is a mineral and therefore, a non-animal source. Great news, right?

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When I was in Brazil this past year for a food industry show, I met a brother and a sister who lived and worked on their family’s biodynamic aloe vera farm. I learned that on this farm the siblings made cleaning products from the aloe vera that they grew.

Their family, the Weltzien’s, founded EcoPath in 1981 in São Paulo, Brazil after relocating from Spain. The family business was the first company to introduce biodegradable, concentrated cleaning products to the Brazilian market. The products have improved along the years, eliminating all petrochemicals. Now, EcoPath has the first and only ready-to-use cleaning product line that is certified Natural by IBD (Biodynamic Institute), Rainforest Alliance Certified and part of the Whole Trade Guarantee program, all of which guarantee social and environmental responsibility.

All of EcoPath’s products are hand filled with labels that are applied by hand, thus providing jobs around their community. All of their product lines contain organic and biodynamic aloe vera grown on the family farm. The workers receive above standard salaries and are educated about recycling, organic agriculture and environmental protection. They also participate in neighborhood recycling programs to raise funds for public schools and other charitable entities. Today, the siblings — Falk, Thorsten, Becky, Folko and Klaus — are working hard to continue their father’s legacy and introduce these products to the world!

EcoPath Cleaning Product Listing:
• Eco Purpose All Purpose Cleaner
• Eco Purpose Dishwashing Liquid Lemon grass
• Eco Purpose Dishwashing Liquid no fragrance
• Eco Purpose Laundry Wash Liquid
• Eco Purpose Laundry Wash Powder fragrance free

I love working with family-owned businesses, especially those that truly believe in what they do. Maine Root Soda Company, based right here in Austin, TX, is one of those companies.

Brothers, Matt and Mark Seiler, started a company that not only provides great quality products, but it has a conscious too. Maine Root Soda Company uses ethically sourced sugar from Paraguay in all of their sodas. In fact, Maine Root Soda Company was the first soda company to use exclusively ethically-certified sugar. All of the sugar cane comes from a biodiverse farm co-op and is grown without the use of synthetic fertilizer. All weeding is done by hand, thereby eliminating the use of chemical herbicides.

It’s hot here in Austin, so a nice cold beverage is a must. I love their Root Beer and Ginger Beer Soda. The Ginger Beer is nice and spicy. So, grab a Maine Root Soda the next time you need a nice cold, refreshing soda, and be reassured that these brothers are doing the right thing! (Not everyone reading this will be able to find Maine Root Soda in their local Whole Foods Market but they are expanding. Look for them now throughout the Southwest, North Atlantic, Northeast, and South regions.)

Oh yeah, Maine Root Soda is part of our Whole Trade Guarantee program, so in addition to the great work that they do, we donate 1% of sales on their products to do more great work through our Whole Planet Foundation.

Check out the Maine Root website to learn more about Matt and Mark’s great story.

The Whole Trade Guarantee Rose project began almost a year ago when three of us from Whole Foods Market made a trip to Ecuador to learn about Fair Trade certified roses. Right away we saw that Ecuadorian roses are gorgeous! BIG! STRONG! BOLD! After meeting with the rose workers and learning how Fair Trade benefits them, we were smitten. Before the trip was over we had the wheels in motion to bring a Whole Trade Guarantee rose to market on our stores. Read the rest of this entry »

Hey fellow Whole Bodies! Jeremiah here, the Senior Global Whole Body Coordinator. Having been in the natural products industry for 15 years I have never seen a more exciting time than now. Check out the shelves this month for all kinds of fun EXCLUSIVE products launching. Many of them are what we call “mission driven” or, in other words, they support a cause besides just making a profit. For instance, we are launching three new soaps from Alaffia (check out Jessica Johnson’s Whole Trade post for more scoop on these), which directly support the small community of Togo, West Africa. This is also a Whole Trade Guarantee group of products so we donate 1% of our sales to the Whole Planet Foundation on those items too!  Another great story is the three soaps from Save Your World (SYW). Not only do these soaps smell and feel great but for every bar you purchase SYW leases one acre of Rainforest for one year preserving it from being chopped down! So check out Whole Body and make a difference while you take a shower!!! (And, oh yeah, of course all of the exclusive products meet our new super clean Premium Body Care Standards!)

My name is Jessica and I am the Whole Trade Guarantee Specialist. In my role I have the opportunity to promote social responsibility through the ethical sale and trade of commodity products. We donate 1% of all Whole Trade Guarantee sales to the Whole Planet Foundation, which funds micro-credit loans to women all over the world to help end world poverty.

One of my favorite companies to work with is Alaffia Bodycare. The owner and founder Olowo-n’djo Tchala was born and grew up in Togo, Africa located on the West African coast. Times were extremely difficult growing up due to political unrest. Olowo-n’djo made a promise to himself he would do all he could to improve the lives of the women from the community he grew up in. Indigenous to the country of Togo, shea nuts are the main ingredient used in Alaffia’s Bodycare products, which provides ethical wages to the women in the community.

Olowo-n’djo explains:

Because I grew up in poverty in Togo, I feel morally responsible to dedicate my life to empowering our communities in Africa. Read the rest of this entry »

Last year, Whole Foods Market launched a certification program called Whole Trade Guarantee, a program for sourcing socially responsible products from developing countries. Tune in to hear grocery product specialist Perry Abbenante tell us more about it.

 Whole Trade Guarantee [4:37m]: Play Now | Download (131)