Sugar Savvy

Sweetriot chocolate covered nibs come in 3 flavors: 50, 65 and 70, relating to the percentage of cacao content, respectively.  “Flavor 50,” the one I sampled, was (pleasantly) darker than I would have expected, and the nuggets are much smoother and shinier than other chocolate-covered cacao nibs that I’ve eaten – not that shininess is an attribute that I particularly seek out when looking for good chocolate. But they are glossy, in case you care.

I feel conflicted about this product. The mission statement and identity of the company certainly are compelling and admirable: “To create a more just and celebrated multicultural world for our next generation. A sweetriot is a joyful celebration of culture, diversity, and understanding — it is the opposite of a civil riot, which is dangerous, violent, and oppressing.”

You can read much more about Sweetriot’s business ethics on their website, mostly centered on their social responsibility not only in using fairly traded chocolate, but also in their domestic HR practices.

While the product itself is pleasant enough, I have experienced chocolate made under similar social principles that was also extraordinarily delicious to boot.  Theo Chocolates and Endangered Species (Black Rhino Bar), being two examples.  Theo, the first roaster of Fair Trade Certified™ cocoa beans and the only roaster of organic cocoa beans in the United States, puts out a nib brittle that, at $8/$9 for a 4 oz bag (naked or enrobed in chocolate), provides much more bang for your buck.

Basically, if your goal is to eat decent enough chocolate while supporting a globally responsible business, you won’t mind shelling out $5 for a 1-ounce tin of simple chocolate-covered nibs. Doing the math, that comes out too $80/lb, which might give us cause to start a riot of our own.  $80/lb? I know it’s for a good case, but… ouch.  A better value, not to mention much more memorable nib-nibbling experience, can certainly be had elsewhere.

Photo courtesy sweetriot.com