Latitude Craft Chocolate
Latitude Craft Chocolate the name of a chocolate from the equator, Latitude (latitude) 0. It comes from a small place called Kasese, in Uganda right on Latitude 0.
Chocolate from Uganda - Latitude Craft Chocolate
Jeff Steinberg, a development economist, saw the potential for the population in handmade chocolate. The English term is probably more appropriate here: craft chocolate. He recognized the gap in the market for Ugandan cocoa: to redefine an origin and market cocoa from Uganda differently and in a new way. People first had to learn how to process cocoa and make good chocolate from it.
It began with just three people, starting with Jeff Steinberg and two others to today's 25 full-time people who run the thriving B Corporation. They are driven by the goal of making the aromatic, Ugandan cocoa more widely known, from excellent chocolate and, most importantly, to have a positive impact on the community in Uganda.
Latitude Craft Chocolate a B-Corporation
Behind the B-Corporation movement are companies that want to drive a sustainable, social and fair future. No longer the shareholder, but the stakeholders are in the foreground and their needs are taken into account.
The cocoa harvest season lasts only 5-6 months. However, the income must be enough for the whole year and cover school fees, food and health insurance. Latitude supports the cocoa farmers with microcredits, which they only have to pay back with the new harvest. There is a donation program where you can support from 10 EUR.
The smallholders are trained and accompanied by Latitude from cultivation to Organic certification. In the meantime, more than 2500 smallholders, half of them women, work for Latitude and deliver certified organic cocoa. The cocoa pods are picked up twice a week from collection points near the farms and paid for immediately. Farmers thus have short distances to travel and the risk of theft and spoilage of the valuable cocoa are low. Latitude has fully digitized the supply chain and can trace every kilogram of cocoa back to its origin. All farms are equipped with GPS for this purpose.
Latitude pays a price of 2.30 USD / kg - 50% more than in Ghana or the Ivory Coast.
Chocolate from Uganda in colorful paper
Fermentation and drying are carefully controlled. In the factory in Kampala, the cocoa beans are roasted, the shell is separated and the nibs are processed into chocolate with cane sugar and cocoa butter. The bars are packed by hand in the colorful papers and shipped all over the world.
Jeff and his team are constantly checking the quality of their cocoa and the Chocolate from Uganda. They also sample products from other producers around the world for this purpose. By 2024, they want to support 5,000 families with the project.
