In February the ACT program went to Nibble Chocolates located in San Diego. The students were given a tour of the facilities and taught about where cacao beans are sourced from and about Fair Trade Farming. Nibble Chocolate uses Fair Trade Farms when acquiring their cacao beans which ensures that the growers are paying their employees a fair wage and putting their profits back into their home communities. The students also learned about the differing jobs in the chocolate industry from farming, purchasing, roasting, grinding, mixing and packaging. Nibble Chocolate also provided the group with samples of unrefined cacao beans, hot chocolate, and dark chocolate made from cacao sourced from different regions of the world (Peru, Dominican Republic, Brazil, and Madagascar). The students really enjoyed the trip but all stated that they prefer milk chocolate to dark chocolate and that they would purchase a Snickers or M&M’s over dark chocolate any day!
