About Us

We are a business and social enterprise transforming cacao, the "food of the gods" into bean-to-bar and stone-ground, artisanal dark chocolate. We roast, winnow, and stone-grind all of our cacao fresh and on-site in Toronto. We believe in making chocolate food, not candy. All of our chocolates range between 65% to 100% cacao content, are low-sugar, and are free of dairy, soy, gluten, nuts, preservatives, fillers and artificial flavours. We only use real, whole-food ingredients to change the flavour and mouthfeel of our bars- like raw vanilla pods, coconut butter, and dried chilis.

Where we come from.

The concept of ChocoSol was originally founded in 2004 in Oaxaca, Mexico, and has been based in Toronto since 2006. The origin our name has links to 3 languages: English, Spanish, and French. ‘Sol’ is from the Spanish word for ‘sun’ and refers to our first 1,000 kilograms of cacao that were roasted with solar power in Oaxaca. In French, ‘sol’ means soil, acknowledging that you must have the soil of the gods in order to have the food of the gods. In English ‘sol’ sounds like ‘soul’ and reminds us of the importance of conducting our work with a good mind and spirit.
 
Our cacao is organic and shade-grown, and sourced direct-trade from Indigenous communities in the Lacondon Jungle of Chiapas and the Oaxacan mountains of Southern Mexico. In recent years we have expanded our trade relationships with social and ecological projects in the Dominican Republic, Ecuador, and Guatemala. Our horizontal trade relationships with our farmers go beyond the mere exchange of commodities and extends to reciprocity, ecological re-generation, and friendship.

Our mission:

To craft revolutionary foods that are good for mind, body, and soil.
We are dedicated to offering a socially-just, ecological, and dignified alternative to the conventional approach to trade, food production, and sharing. This means an ongoing, reflective practice of working in partnership, collaboration, and co-operation with growers and communities in the Americas.
 Acknowledgement of Traditional Land 

We would like to acknowledge this sacred land on which ChocoSol operates. It has been a site of human activity for 15,000 years. This land is the territory of the Huron-Wendat and Petun First Nations, the Seneca, and most recently, the Mississaugas of the Credit River. The territory was the subject of the Dish with One Spoon Wampum Belt Covenant, an agreement between the Iroquois Confederacy and Confederacy of the Ojibwe and allied nations to peaceably share and care for the resources around the Great Lakes. Today, the meeting place of Toronto is still the home to many Indigenous people from across Turtle Island and we are grateful to have the opportunity to work in the community, on this territory.

Revised by the Elders Circle (Council of Aboriginal Initiatives) on November 6, 2014.

AODA Statement of Commitment:

Chocosol Traders is committed to treating all people in a way that allows them to maintain their dignity and independence. We believe in integration and equal opportunity. We are committed to meeting the needs of people with disabilities in a timely manner, and will do so by preventing and removing barriers to accessibility and meeting accessibility requirements under the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA).