Us and Our Ethics

The Little Questions…

And some bigger issues…

Fair trade: Trying to get a better deal for the world’s poorest producers. What Fair Trade means and why we’re involved.
You are what you eat: A few thoughts on how we source our ingredients and why.
Zen and the art of packaging: Why we use the packaging we do, and how best to deal with it.

Who are we?

Chocolala has been set up by Nick and Niladri… we’re two men trying to deal with loss… mainly of our youth, hair, physique… and the plot.

We’re also Quakers and try to operate in a way that embraces our Quaker testimonies… i.e. endeavouring to work with honesty and integrity and in a way that respects other people and the planet.

As part of this, our chocolates are fair trade. At the moment we’re feeling slightly smug about this, as we are the only UK producers of handmade chocolates registered as Fairtrade licensees and carrying the Fairtrade mark.

We also harbour the desire to smile genuinely and often.

Where are we?

We’re in West Yorkshire close to the Lancashire Border (known to some of you as ‘the North’). We’re based in the small and picturesque former mill town of Hebden Bridge. British Airways(!) reckons that Hebden is the 4th funkiest place in the world… we’re not sure how (or why?) they arrived at this ranking, but the town does have a lot going for it. It’s in a beautiful setting, a very nice place to be, is almost definitely the lesbian capital of the galaxy, and it has a great cinema which serves tea in proper mugs and now has a brand new sound system so you can even understand what the actors are saying. What more could you ask for?

Why chocolate?

It’s all a bit of a mystery. We seem to have been led here, kicking and screaming, resisting it rigorously and putting forward every reason why we shouldn’t be making gorgeous and right-on handmade chocolates… all to no avail. Best get on with it then.

What’s it all about?

As you’ve probably discovered by now, we make fresh handmade chocolates. We think our chocolates are delicious, beautiful and fantastic (although we are 1. biased… and 2. slightly odd).

However, our interest is not just in making gorgeous chocolates, but also looking at a fuller picture, and how the things we all do can make a difference… There’s a bit more on some of these matters on the pages listed below.