In The News

Purpose with Profit: Meet 9 Socially Responsible Founders Creating Change Through Business

Shuang Esther Shan
17 September 2020

The richness and depth of ChocoSol’s chocolate and coffee reflect the social impact that this education-oriented social enterprise is making. But becoming a bean-to-bar chocolate maker and coffee roastery was almost an accident for founder Michael Sacco.

Lessons from pedal-powered ChocoSol: How "ecopreneur" Michael Sacco transformed chocolate into a learning enterprise

Corporate Knights

23 December 2019

“Through “horizontal” trade, ChocoSol cuts out the vertical supply chain relied on by most big companies and deals directly with producers, commonly offering them 15 per cent above the going international wholesale price (up to 300 per cent more for some rarer beans). Relying on face-to-face relationships, direct traders reduce the red tape common with fair trade labels that deal with large-volume producers.

But behind its social, ethical and small-scale artisanal production methods, ChocoSol runs as much on hard-edged business forecasts as integrity and soul.”

Where to get the most epic hot chocolate in Toronto

Dished Toronto
7 November 2019

“Drink like the gods with the drinking chocolate from ChocoSol traders. The bar of cacao, mixed with cane or coconut sugar and various spices, melts down into the creamiest of hot drinks. Stop into their mid-town location or find them at various farmers’ markets throughout the city.”

What’s your chocolate destiny? We match your astrological sign with a local artisanal chocolate

Toronto Star
8 February 2019

“The Five Chili Bullet bar from Chocosol will stir up the passionate Aries soul: an ancient flavour combination of dried chilies from across Central America zipped up with Mayan forest garden allspice, achiote and Zapotec sea salt.”

Beyond fair trade: These bean-to-bar chocolate makers are upping the ante on working with cocoa farmers.

Financial Post
27 April 2017

“ChocoSol sets its sights on higher standards than those set by Fairtrade, as do a growing number of small North American bean-to-bar makers trying to put more money in the hands of their raw material suppliers.”

Why Mexican Chefs, Farmers And Activists Are Reviving The Ancient Grain Amaranth

WRVO Public Media
1 May 2017

“Puente's farmer network has so far exported to only one source outside the country, Toronto's ChocoSol Traders. There, founder Michael Sacco and chef Chrystal Porter are perfecting a recipe for a "complete-protein tortilla," made with amaranth, chia seeds and maize.”

Locally Made: The Chocosol Team | Handmade chocolate honours time and tradition.

Torontoist
11 July 2012

“Chocosol is built upon a traditional method of chocolate production—one that doesn’t involve computerized machines or genetically altered ingredients. “We like to build everything from the ground up,” says wholesale manager Mathieu McFadden. “Our stone grinders are spin-offs from Oaxacan-style grinders; we just make them so that they are safe by Canadian standards. They are tools, but they are not machines, the way you’d find machines in chocolate factories. What happens here is something very old, very rooted in tradition.”

My winding fair trade trek through Chiapas ends in a ­secret chocolate forest – a source for Toronto treats.

Now Toronto
11 February 2009

"The goal is to sustain a way of life that honours indigenous traditions and that – rare on the northern half of the planet – actually leaves the world with more carbon and life than the economy takes out. Thanks to our infatuation with ethical cacao, that vision is not hopelessly romantic." - Wayne Roberts

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