In the UK, carbon neutral chocolate bar is shipped by wooden sailboat

Aiming to be the world's most ethical chocolate bar, the Gru Grococo is fairly traded, organic, non-profit, sustainable and carbon-neutral, with a price to match.

The cocoa industry is one that has been especially affected by social movements to improve its practice, from fair trade to ideas concerning sustainability, such as Original Beans‘ scheme to plant a tree for each chocolate bar sold in the location it was sourced. Aiming to be the world’s most ethical chocolate bar, the Gru Grococo is now adding carbon-neurality into the mix, with a price to match. The limited edition 85-gram bar, which is a joint venture between UK-based chocolatier Rococo and the Grenada Chocolate Company, is made from organic cocoa harvested and roasted at a solar-powered microfactory in St Andrews on the Caribbean island in February. After being turned into chocolate, the bars were shipped to the UK via the engine-less wooden sailing ship Tres Hombres, on March 24th, 2012, spending six weeks in transit. During the journey, the product was cooled using solar and wind-powered refrigerators. The Gru Grococo bar, which contains 66 percent cocoa and has tones of “tobacco and grass”, is now available in Rococo stores and online at a price of GBP 11.95. The hefty price tag, while ensuring a limited customer base, also raises awareness of what Rococo calls the “true price” of chocolate production. 100 percent of the profits are directed back towards the producers. The Gru Grococo is a brave first step towards a chocolate bar industry which incorporates ethical values into each stage of the manufacturing of its product. However, this is by no means the only industry that could attempt to revise its practice for the good of society and the environment – one for inspiration? Spotted by: Katherine Noyes