Alter Eco refers to two alternative trading organizations, founded in 1998 by Tristan Lecomte in France, [1] and followed by Mathieu Senard and Edouard Rollet in the United States, and Ilse Keijzer in Australia.
Alter Eco refers to two alternative trading organizations, founded in 1998 by Tristan Lecomte in France, [1] and followed by Mathieu Senard and Edouard Rollet in the United States, and Ilse Keijzer in Australia.
Alter Eco France specializes in fair trade and "responsible" food products. The organization is part of the fair trade movement and offers its products in several French mass retailers such as Monoprix, Cora, Match, Système U, E.Leclerc and Carrefour. As of 2007 [update] , there are over 100 Alter Eco Fair Trade products on the market, sourced from 42 cooperatives in 37 countries. Some Alter Eco Fair Trade products include coffee, tea, rice, sugar, quinoa, chocolate, olive oil, juice and cotton balls.
In 2006, Alter Eco France approached Brazilian retailers to sell Brazilian products in the country under Fair Trade terms, creating the first South-South Fair Trade experiment. In Europe, all Alter Eco products are FLO-CERT certified and bear the International Fairtrade Certification Mark.
In 2005, Alter Eco expanded into the United States and Canadian markets. Headquartered in San Francisco. Headquartered in Melbourne, Alter Eco Australia is part of the larger Alter Eco US company. Alter Eco US acquired Alter Eco Australia in 2015.
Alter Eco sells chocolate and chocolate-centric snack products. This includes a line of chocolate bars, chocolate truffles, and dark chocolate coconut clusters.
Alter Eco in the US and Canada was started in 2003 by Mathieu Senard and Edouard Rollet. Mathieu and Edouard started the North America company. The first products began to be sold in 2005. The company was started in San Francisco and is still based there.
In 2009, Alter Eco became a certified B Corp. [2] This was followed in 2013 when it became one of the first companies to become a registered public benefit corporation in Delaware. [3]
Alter Eco in North America acquired Alter Eco Pacific in 2015. Alter Eco Pacific was originally started by Ilse Keijzer in 2005 and is based in Melbourne, Australia. It supplies product throughout Australia and New Zealand.
In 2016, the company was awarded Delicious Living magazine's Best Bite Aware for the Best Chocolate Bar for its 85% cacao Dark Blackout bar. [4] The company also received the NEXT Award in this year for Best Packaging for its compostable quinoa pouch.
In 2017, the company was put on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest growing private companies for 2017. [5] At the time, the company had a 198% three year growth with revenues of $20 million.
The company was ranked second on the 2022 Chocolate Scorecard which rates chocolate companies according to their human rights and environmental credentials: traceability and transparency, living income for cocoa farmers, absence of child labour, deforestation & climate, agroforestry and agrochemical management. (https://www.chocolatescorecard.com/)
The company rebranded in 2017, updating its logo and packaging, and switching to a new motto—Enlightened Indulgence. Alter Eco was also acquired by NextWorld Evergreen, a San Francisco-based private equity firm focused on purpose driven brands[ clarification needed ], in December 2017. In October 2018, Mike Forbes was named CEO of the company. Mathieu and Edouard remained as co-founders of the company.
Alter Eco produces a line of chocolate and chocolate-centric products. The company formerly sourced and sold coffee, tea, rice, olive oil and hearts of palm as part of their original push to spread fair trade products. The company has since changed to focus their products around chocolate and quinoa because of the better opportunities for a growing company to focus on one main supply versus a line of different goods.[ citation needed ]
The company produces a line of chocolate bars and chocolate truffles that are organic, non-GMO, and fair trade, and some are vegan. The chocolate is manufactured in Switzerland. The chocolate bars come in 10 flavors such as Brown Butter, and Super Blackout, which is 90% cacao. The truffles come in five flavors: Classic Dark, Sea Salt, Salted Caramel, Mint Crème, and Silk Velvet.
In 2018, Alter Eco entered the snacking category with its Coconut Cluster products, available in Original, Seeds and Salt, and Cherry and Almond Butter. The products were launched at the 2018 Natural Products Expo and were one of VegNews magazine's best new vegan products. [6]
In 2016, the company began publishing a Social Impact Report. [7] The company has a four pronged approach to sustainability:
Alter Eco sources only organic and non-gmo products and works with its farmers to transition their cultivation to more sustainable and cleaner practices. [8] The company places importance on traceability, and also removes or substitutes ingredients that are generally unsustainable or unhealthy. For example, the company uses coconut oil instead of palm oil in its products. The products are all organic certified and non-gmo verified.[ citation needed ]
Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring in other foods. The cacao tree has been used as a source of food for at least 5,300 years, starting with the Mayo-Chinchipe culture in what is present-day Ecuador. Later, Mesoamerican civilizations consumed cacao beverages, of which one, chocolate, was introduced to Europe in the 16th century.
Planters Nut & Chocolate Company is an American snack food company now owned by Hormel Foods. Planters is best known for its processed nuts and for the Mr. Peanut icon that symbolizes them. Mr. Peanut was created by grade schooler Antonio Gentile for a 1916 contest to design the company's brand icon. The design was modified by a commercial artist and has continued to change over the years.
Kit Kat is a chocolate-covered wafer bar confection created by Rowntree's of York, England. It is produced globally by Nestlé, except in the United States, where it is made under licence by the H. B. Reese Candy Company, a division of the Hershey Company.
Ritter Sport is a brand of chocolate bar from the family-owned Alfred Ritter GmbH & Co. KG, which has its headquarters in Waldenbuch, Germany. The company was founded in 1912 by Clara and Alfred Eugen Ritter and has been family-owned ever since. Andreas Ronken has been the CEO since 2015.
Green & Black's is a British chocolate company founded in 1991. The company produces a range of organic food products, including: chocolate bars, ice cream, biscuits and hot chocolate.
Dove is an American brand of chocolate owned and manufactured by Mars. Dove produces a wide range of chocolate candies, as well as other chocolate products such as milks, cakes and ice creams.
Neuhaus is a Belgian chocolatier which manufactures and sells luxury chocolates, chocolate truffles, biscuits and ice cream. The company was founded in 1857 by Jean Neuhaus, a Swiss immigrant, who opened the first store in the Galeries Royales Saint-Hubert in central Brussels. In 1912, his grandson, Jean Neuhaus II, invented the chocolate praline, a decadent chocolate cream ganache center inside a chocolate shell, the original filled chocolate.
Compound chocolate is a product made from a combination of cocoa, vegetable fat and sweeteners. It is used as a lower-cost alternative to pure chocolate, as it uses less-expensive hard vegetable fats such as coconut oil or palm kernel oil in place of the more expensive cocoa butter. It may also be known as "compound coating" or "chocolatey coating" when used as a coating for candy. It is often used in less expensive chocolate bars to replace enrobed chocolate on a product.
Dagoba Organic Chocolate was a brand of chocolate founded in 2001 by Frederick Schilling. The Hershey Company acquired Dagoba in 2006 but in June 2021 Dagoba again became a privately held company. Hershey divested the Dagoba chocolate brand along with Krave Pure Foods and Scharffen Berger in order to focus on the salty snacks and nutrition bars markets. After the divesture, Scharffen Berger moved production and its headquarters to the Dagoba factory in Ashland, Oregon and registered in 2021 as an LLC with the Oregon Secretary of State. However, Dagoba did not re-register in Oregon as a business entity and the Dagoba home page redirects to the Hershey site.
The U-NO Bar is a truffle type bar with almond bits covered in a thin layer of chocolate, and wrapped in a silver foil-like wrapper. It is comparable to a 3 Musketeers bar in appearance but has a higher fat per gram ratio. Its center is a chocolate, truffle-like fluff covered in a thin layer of milk chocolate and ground almonds. U-NO bars used to come in two flavors: Original and Mint. Annabelle Candy Company has since discontinued the mint flavor.
Eden Foods, Inc., is an organic food company based in Clinton, Michigan. It is best known for its Edensoy line of organic soy milk, and its line of organic Japanese foods and condiments. The company claims to be the oldest independent organic food producer in the United States, and the largest supplier of organic dry grocery items.
Lärabar is a brand of energy bars produced by General Mills. The bars come in a variety of flavors such as Apple Pie, Carrot Cake, Cinnamon Roll, and Mint Chip Brownie.
Nature's Path Foods, commonly known as Nature's Path, is a privately held, family-owned producer of certified organic foods. Originally known for its breakfast cereals, it now has a portfolio of more than 150 products. Founded in 1985 by Arran and Ratana Stephens, Nature's Path employs approximately 500 people, with manufacturing facilities in Canada and the United States and sales in more than 40 countries. All of its products are vegetarian, certified organic, and Non-GMO Project Verified. Nature's Path is a triple bottom line social enterprise and is recognized for incorporating the notion of sustainability into its business practices through its support of various charitable and eco-friendly initiatives. The company is regularly named one of Canada's best employers.
Daiya Foods Inc. is a Canada-based dairy-alternative food company located in Burnaby, British Columbia. The company was established in 2008 by Andre Kroecher, Greg Blake and Mike Slinn. Daiya's original products are cheese analogues made from coconut oil and tapioca flour that are known for their cheese-like consistency and melting properties. They contain no animal products or soy, lactose, wheat, barley, gluten, or nuts.
Fair trade cocoa is an agricultural product harvested from a cocoa tree using a certified process which is followed by cocoa farmers, buyers, and chocolate manufacturers, and is designed to create sustainable incomes for farmers and their families. Companies that use fair trade certified cocoa to create products can advertise that they are contributing to social, economic, and environmental sustainability in agriculture.
Taza Chocolate is a Mexican-inspired stoneground, organic chocolate manufacturer based in Somerville, Massachusetts, United States. The factory was founded by Alex Whitmore in 2005 and is home to over 40 different products that can be found in 2,800 retail stores across the country.
Moo Free Ltd. is a British manufacturer of dairy free, gluten free, vegan and organic chocolates. Their head office is located in Holswothy, Devon. The company was established in 2010 by husband and wife team Mike and Andrea Jessop with the intent of making a dairy free chocolate with a taste similar to that of milk chocolate by using rice milk instead of conventional dairy milk. The concept was to ensure that vegan children or those with food allergies or intolerance could have traditional seasonal chocolates such as Easter eggs and Advent calendars. In addition to being vegan, the company's products are also free from dairy, gluten, wheat and soya, and are made from organically certified ingredients.
Bean-to-bar is a business model in which a chocolate manufacturer controls the entire manufacturing process from procuring cocoa beans to creating the end product of consumer chocolate.
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