6,000 miles from home, Endangered Species Chocolate finds its roots
Mission-driven chocolate company documents ethically traded cacao farming in Nigeria

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INDIANAPOLIS – With the company's core value – Reverence for Life – on their minds, four team members from Endangered Species Chocolate (ESC) arrived in Nigeria on Feb. 3, 2006, to document ethically traded farming practices in the villages where ESC sources the cacao that makes the nation's leading brand of all-natural chocolate.

ESC representatives visited the villages of Etung L.G.A. and Bendeghe Ekiem in the Ikom region of Nigeria, which is located about 30 miles west of the Cameroon border.

Taking more than 600 pictures and logging hours of video footage, the team followed the journey of its cocoa beans from the cacao trees on which they grow to the ocean vessels that transport them to the chocolate production facilities in Europe. Each step of the way, ESC representatives were able to confirm firsthand that the chocolate used in Endangered Species Chocolate products is ethically traded. The crops are harvested by adult workers who are paid a fair wage, and the money spent by ESC for the crop is used by the owner/farmer and benefits the village near the farm.

As part of its Nigerian experience – and further underscoring the company's mission – the ESC team dedicated water pumps and educational materials to the villages near the farms. Through its export partner, Saro Agroallied Ltd., ESC contributed more than $52,000 to purchase and install heavy-duty UNICEF filtered water pumps and supply much needed school textbooks, desks, chairs and chalkboards to more than 4,000 schoolchildren in Etung L.G.A. and Bendeghe Ekiem.

Cacao farmers control own economic destiny
ESC's Nigerian mission confirmed that the farmers who produce the cacao used in the company's nearly 30 products are making a fair wage and working under humane working conditions.

"The ethical trade of our cacao is something we know is happening," said Wayne Zink, CEO of ESC. "We have seen the farms and met the farmers. Ethical trade is their way of life, their way of doing business, just as it is with ESC. That, to me, is the most important thing."

Zink and his team not only witnessed the skilled cacao farmers harvesting, drying, storing and transporting the vital beans, they learned the details of how these farmers work with the Saro procurement agents to get the best prices for their crop.

"The farmers in Etung L.G.A. and Bendeghe Ekiem are in total control of their economic destiny," Zink said. "These farmers have free will to sell their cacao to whom they want, when they want, depending on world market prices. Neither the government nor any third party sets prices. The farmers' villages are flourishing and their economic well being is very clear to us."

The future of Nigeria is in the children
In what clearly became the most emotional aspect of the journey, the ESC team was able to help provide clean drinking water for the two farming villages. According to Zink, children were often ill and missed school because of countless intestinal disorders as a result of drinking contaminated river water.

Two large UNICEF filter pumps now provide potable water to the children and adults of Etung L.G.A. and Bendeghe Ekiem. "The dedication ceremonies for the water pumps were awe-inspiring and emotional," Zink said. "After we unveiled the pumps, we pumped the water and drank it together. The water was delicious – cold, clear and clean."

While safe drinking water was needed desperately, schoolchildren were still learning in harsh environments. ESC provided the first curricular textbooks to the village's "comprehensive secondary schools." The company also donated desks and chairs so the children no longer had to sit on dirt floors.

"As we approached both schools, the children lined the streets and welcomed us," Zink said. "The joy on the children's faces is an image that will forever remain etched in our minds. The future of Nigeria truly is in the children."

The ESC team has since returned from the 110-degree heat and rugged living conditions with a newfound appreciation for ethical trade and the many individuals involved in growing, harvesting, transporting and processing the seeds of a precious tropical fruit whose scientific name, Theobroma cacao, means "food of the gods."

Trip Facts

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Endangered Species Chocolate (ESC) team members visited Nigeria from Feb. 3 – 10, 2006. The team: Wayne Zink, CEO; Joelle Hoffman, director of international sales; Jae Park, director of marketing; and Kelly Bredl, project manager. The ESC team visited two cacao farming villages, Etung L.G.A. and Bendeghe Ekiem, in the Ikom region of Nigeria.

* With a population of approximately 10,000, Ikom is located about 30 miles west of the Cameroon border and 30 miles north of Calabar, Nigeria.
* There are more than 300 different ethnic groups in Nigeria. In Ikom alone, locals speak at least four different dialects of the native Nigerian language.
* Cacao is a major cash crop in Nigeria. According to a recent BBC story, the Nigerian government hopes to triple cacao production over the next three years from 180,000 tons in 2005 to 600,000 tons by 2008 and increase subsidies by $1.1 million.
* ESC sources all of the cacao used to make its nearly 30 products from the two Nigerian villages. (Only about 15 percent of the Nigerian cacao export comes out of Ikom. The remaining 85 percent is produced in regions closer to Lagos, a major port city with a population of approximately 18 million.)
* ESC creates its products using only ethically traded chocolate. By purchasing ethically traded chocolate, ESC guarantees cacao farmers a fair wage and total control of their financial futures.
* All cacao farming procedures in Etung L.G.A. and Bendeghe Ekiem are done with human labor. Motorized vehicles are used only to carry the harvested cacao out of the deep forests.
* After cacao seeds are harvested, dried and fermented, they are stored in sacks, each weighing 145 pounds. The farmers move and stack these sacks in warehouses by hand.
* While cacao can technically be harvested year round, the crop is harvested predominantly in October.
* Through its export partner, Saro Agroallied Ltd., ESC contributed more than $52,000 to purchase and install two large UNICEF water pumps and supply much needed school supplies such as textbooks, desks and chalkboards to more than 4,000 schoolchildren in Etung L.G.A. and Bendeghe Ekiem.