We like to think that everything we do, from turning off lights, to recycling, to buying fresh rather than processed food, can make a difference in our lives and in the lives of those around us. There’s not always hard evidence, however, that these little choices we make are actually making a difference, until you run into someone like Norman Brooks or Zak Zaidman. They will tell you that yes, every little decision you make about how you spend your money and use your goods does make a difference. In some cases a HUGE difference.
Kopali Organics (www.kopaliorganics.com) is one of those companies whose mission is not only to bring good food to the consumer, but also to educate you, me, and all of us, on how all these daily decisions, even what chocolate you buy, makes a difference in the lives of everyone on the planet. Kopali believes we need to nurture our planet the way we nurture our bodies; these two go hand in hand. They want to tell us the story of the people who bring us the food that sustains us, and thus create a market for sustainable food strong enough to compete in the larger global market. As I sit here nibbling on some of Kopali’s delicious Organic Chocolate Covered Cacao Nibs (had to do my homework!), I’ll try to relate the extensive information I gleaned during my interview with Norman Brooks and Zak Zaidman.
Kopali’s Origin Story
It all started in 1995 when Norman Brooks’ son, Steven, took a trip to Costa Rica and fell in love with the country and its people. Together he and his father began a student tour company called Costa Rican Adventures that showed not only the wonders of Costa Rica, but also the gritty realities of the rainforests being destroyed and those living in poverty. This tour also included a day of completely sustainable living by the students, who lived on just what they found in a certain location and left it just the way it was when they found it.
By 2001 Punta Mona was fully established; a 100 acre off-the-grid sustainable community where the Internet is powered via solar power, buildings are made only of the wood that has naturally fallen from trees, and animal feces is used for fertilizer and heating and cooking. In addition, while there is indoor plumbing, they will soon be converting some of the flush toilets into composting toilets and using bio-mass digesters to use the methane gas to power the kitchen. Kopali also currently has two more sustainable communities in Costa Rica and would like to encourage others to start their own.
In the intervening years Norman Brooks, his son Steven, and several others in working on forming this community had developed friendships with farmers in their area who truly used sustainable methods on their lands, working to not only grow organic produce, but to do it in a way that added to the earth, rather than taking away from it. They wanted to be more proactive in educating the global community on living a more healthful and sustainable life. Larger companies using cheaper methods were able to undercut these farmers when it came to selling bananas, for example, because they could cheaply produce the pretty yellow banana we North Americans are used to seeing.
Then in 2003 Mr. Brooks’ team formed a partnership with Whole Foods and some Caribbean families fighting to remain sustainable farmers to bring a truly unique product to the US Market: Banana Vinegar. They wanted this product to not only help the families in Costa Rica, but also as a way to educate the US consumer and bring to the forefront the fight for a sustainable way of life.
As Mr. Brooks and his team traveled back and forth between the US and Costa Rica, they were made aware of the fuel consumed and pollution caused with just one flight of one airplane; thus was born the Sustainable Solutions Caravan. This was a caravan of buses that ran on expended vegetable oil. The route was from California through Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua to Costa Rica. These buses not only carried passengers, but also stopped off to meet with ministers, farmers, the press, and others to educate people on the necessity of respecting the earth more, treating her more kindly, and living more sustainably.
Kopali now has an Eco Bus Tour, a descendent of their caravan. This bus, named Kokopali, uses exhibits from a collaboration of companies, known as the Conscious Goods Alliance, to educate people on organic foods, fair trade, and sustainability. (For a video tour go to Kopali Organics.) Some of these companies include the Rainforest Alliance, Transfair USA, the Organic Center, Green Home, Organic Trade Association, and the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements.
But What About the CHOCOLATE?!
Yes, something we chocolate lovers like to the get to the heart of: the chocolate!
In 2005, Kopali Organics launched as official purveyors of organic foods produced from sustainable farms in the rainforests of Central America and other parts of the world. Kopali (meaning "incense") had researched other foods and superfoods to introduce to the US Market in conjunction with Whole Foods. These foods included a line of chocolate snacks: chocolate-covered espresso beans, chocolate-covered bananas, chocolate-covered mulberries, chocolate-covered goji berries, and the cacao nibs mentioned earlier, as well as their Organic Hot Cocoa and their Cacao Butter Body Care line. (Something I learned that I didn’t know before: goji berries are the highest antioxidant food currently known to humans and are only grown in Tibetan China.)
Though they have in the past gotten their chocolate from several different places, including Costa Rica, currently the chocolate they use is from Ecuador. As part of their mission to support organic food, fair trade, and equitable wages for small organic farmers, they also support the Commitment to Ethical Cocoa Sourcing (Info Available Here), which educates people on the lack of labor rights for those (especially children) who currently work in the cocoa sourcing industry. As Mr. Zaidman said, the snacks produced by Kopali Organics are "righteously sourced" and can be purchased guilt-free in regard to how they were created and brought to the consumer. Purchasing these snacks and other items helps keep small farms in business.
Don’t expect a range of chocolate bars as with other chocolate purveyors. Kopali only uses dark chocolate with no preservatives and sweetens it with naturally evaporated cane juice (no high fructose corn syrup in this chocolate!). The use of dark chocolate keeps the healthful properties found in cacao. As a chocolate lover, I have no argument with such practices. The chocolate-covered nibs I devoured were rich, sweet, bitter, dark, nutty, light and filling. They were not overly sweet or waxy, nor did snacking on them make me feel bloated and "icky" as some mass-produced chocolates have. It was a snack worthy of the name chocolate.
In my interview with Mr. Brooks I learned that his favorite chocolate snacks were the Organic Chocolate Covered Espresso Beans, while Mr. Zaidman really enjoyed the Organic Chocolate Covered Cacao Nibs (however, Mr. Zaidman also confessed that his absolute favorite was the line of organic dried fruit that they carry).
The price of the snacks is in line with other gourmet chocolate products, though of course higher than mass-produced chocolate products. But again, they are much better chocolate snacks than those other mass-produced chocolates. After speaking with Mr. Brooks and Mr. Zaidman I was much more thoughtful about my purchases the next time I went shopping. I like to think that what I’m purchasing is not only making my life better, but someone else’s as well.
Looking into the future, Kopali wants to continue to find other products they can bring the global market to introduce people to the idea of buying fair trade sustainable products. The Cacao Butter Body Care line was one of their forays into something new. Right now, it is only available in limited markets while they work on getting it all just right – if it can’t go in your mouth then it shouldn’t go on your body. Mr. Zaidman assured me he uses these body care products exclusively as they are his favorite body care products. I look forward to trying out them out when they become available. Nothing says luxury like chocolate on the body!
