Diving into a bar of chocolate may elicit feelings of guilt for some, but not for Loving Earth Founders Scott Fry and Martha Butler. From humble beginnings to being a leader in food trends, Loving Earth embodies a simple, yet profoundly powerful mission; ‘healthy, sustainable, fair’ that proves making (and eating!) chocolate can be beneficial for all involved.
Witnessing first-hand the struggle for indigenous communities in Peru, Australia, Mexico and Indonesia to nurture traditional cultivating methods of staple foods, such as cacao, Scott and Martha decided to take action.
“We’ve never been afraid of challenging and creating something that hasn’t been done before,” Scott says.
So in 2007, Loving Earth was born with the vision of creating quality, organic, real food that’s good for the planet and indigenous communities.
“Our purpose is to make food that honours both the indigenous people that have cultivated them for thousands of years and the ecosystems in which they are grown.”
Loving Earth’s mission ensures raw ingredients are sourced directly from indigenous communities and bought at significantly higher, ‘fair’ prices than before.
“This helps communities maintain their cultural integrity, improves incomes generated for their families, plus adds the skills and infrastructure needed to empower Indigenous communities for success in future generations,” Scott says.
One of their key relationships is with the Ashaninka community in the Peruvian Amazon rainforest. Having experienced years of unrest in the area, including logging and drug trafficking, the community has suffered, despite their land being a rich source of premium cacao beans. In collaboration with the rainforest foundation, Loving Earth has helped the Ashaninka community establish a Certified Organic, Fair Trade co-op ‘Kemito Ene’. The co-op encourages the community to grow their indigenous cacao beans using traditional methods passed down through the generations, without the use of synthetic chemicals, to help restore native ecosystems.
“We see our planet as a living organism…the smallest of actions can have a lasting impact. The farmers who grow our ingredients follow traditional permaculture systems where possible to help restore native ecosystems, prevent erosion and support water conservation.”
Loving Earth will continue telling their story and inspiring others to purchase chocolate made from Ashaninka’s Certified Organic, Fair Trade cacao beans, to help the community grow towards its target.
While chocolate typically doesn’t conjure images of Indigenous Australian communities, Loving Earth also supports the Nyul Nyul people from the Dampier Peninsula, north of Broome, through their harvesting of ‘Gubinge’ or Kakadu plum. Containing the highest natural source of vitamin C in the world, Gubinge grows in wild orchards throughout the bush. The Gubinge trees have begun producing more fruit since Bruno Dann has lead the way in reintroducing ancestral traditional ways of caring for the land back to his community, including back-burning to stop fires destroying the orchards.
“Bush food and tucker we’ve got out here has never been recognised much by anybody,” says Bruno.
Since Loving Earth began supporting the Nyul Nyul community, the Gubinge crop has flourished to eight times its original size, allowing many Indigenous locals the opportunity to harvest the fruit and generate cash flow for their families, who may have previously struggled to make ends meet.
While supporting Indigenous communities, Loving Earth has maintained its commitment to being sustainable by being at the forefront of innovative, recycled packaging. As well as their delicious chocolate, Loving Earth also produce breakfast cereals, raw snacks, butters and spreads, nuts, seeds and dried fruit plus many more delightful, healthy products that are good for you, the planet and Indigenous communities.
Shop in our pantry aisle
Loving Earth Chocolates:
30g — $3.25, 45g — $4.95, 50g — $7.25.
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