Theo Chocolate Company Essay

1. Overview. Theo Chocolate named after Theobroma cacao is the company which produces organic chocolate for 48 states in the USA and 3 states in Canada: Alberta, British Columbia, and Ontario (Our Story 2011). The company was found in 2006 and it was the first one that manufactures organic chocolate (Moskin 2008). The founder of this company is Joseph Whinney who was the pioneer having brought these organic cocoa beans in the USA. High quality organic chocolate bears are well known all around the world but the company is famous as the one that uses only environmentally friendly products and that meets the criteria of Fair Trade System and has certification of Fair For Life as well. There is no a main shop of this company even in the state Washington where it’s situated but its chocolate bars are easy to find at any grocery stores.
Theo Chocolate manufactures more than 50 different chocolate products and all of them are of high qualities as the most important fact in organic and fair trade (Theo Chocolate 2011). These products are divided in the following categories: Classic Collection which can meet everybody’s tasty, Fantasy Flavors which impress with unusual flavors in chocolate such as Chai Tea, Bread and Chocolate, Coconut Curry, Fig Fennel and Almond, Hazelnut Crunch, Coffee, and Fantasy Flavor. Wonderful chocolate of Single Origin category differs in cocoa from three different regions it was made of. Theo Chocolate Company also produces special chocolate to celebrate the band Nirvana. It was chocolate of the category of Theo & EMP. The other categories are Theo & Jane Goodall and Specialty Chocolate. The former is the result of partnership between Theo and Jane Goodall. The later includes Confections, Caramels, Theo + Caffe Vita, Shipping Chocolate, Cocoa Nibs, Theo/Nicobella Vegan confections. It’s worth recalling that Theo Chocolate also pleases its client with wonderful gift sets for any occasion.
Fair Trade chocolate policies mean eco-friendly and social products and Theo Chocolate Company successfully follows these rules. This company also has the principles of close co-operation with all partners. They try to improve the situation for all people they are dealing with from their farmer partners in Dominican Republic who grow cocoa beans to customers all around the world. So their certification of Fair For Life is a fair reward they got for their efforts given by a third part, which belongs to the global Fair Trade label organizations. This company verifies farms, conditions there and the process of co-operation to understand that their standards are met. This company determines and decides about certification (Mills 2011).
2. Vision. Joseph Winney, the founder of Theo Chocolate which is situated in Seattle, WA spent many years in Central America working as a volunteer. He studied the process of farming, agro-forestry in conditions of humid tropics. He got knowledge of negative effects of excessive and unsustainable cocoa producing. Joe was the fist who brought organic cocoa beans to the USA in 90’s but it took more than 10 years till he starts his Theo Chocolate in 2006. This company was the result of inspiration that Joseph Winney got from co-operation with farmers producing cocoa beans and his work to control the whole process of chocolate producing from beans to finished products. Doing this job Joe come to conclusion that Theo’s mission and vision as a company should be to think of new generation as products cannot bring any profits if they destroy environmental.
Theo Chocolate produces chocolate supervising the process of its manufacturing from the moment cocoa beans are growing till the end product wrapped in paper came to customers with an aim to provide only organic and fair-trade chocolate. Fair-trade chocolate is the certificated product which is manufactured with regarding to labor conditions at farms where beans are growing, that the labor conditions are safe and that children are not involved in backbreaking labor.
This company would like to go away from that traditional product that people used calling “chocolate”. On contrary to many companies that produces chocolate products, Theo Chocolate would like to show its consumers the difference between brown sweet thing which is unhealthy, of doubtful quality and produced from suppliers of unknown origin, and the chocolate made with love.
Company would like to make people informed on process of this chocolate creating. Theo’s also works at providing healthy and useful chocolate for people. They aim to show that money spent on their chocolate bar is spent on a good thing.
Theo Chocolate goals combine three major principles: Healthy Planet and Thriving Partner, Delicious Chocolate and Happy Chocolate Lovers (GPSWorldTraveler 2010).
3. Strategy. Theo’s company passion to chocolate is shown throughout the whole process of its manufacturing. To get any benefit on chocolate market while there are millions of manufacturers Theo Company should be different from them. It was not enough just to state that their chocolate is organic, it was important to convince people in this statement. Chocolate starts with cocoa and that’s why Theo’s team used thinking of it as of agricultural products but not just goods. Theo Chocolate means honest and transparent business leading. Its team understand that all of them – farmers, company and consumers are into relationships and they depend on each other (Sabrautzki 2010). It was a good business decision to show to cocoa farmers what is going on after beans left the farm because most of them don’t have any education and they have never tried the product for which these beans are used. They don’t know what it means beans of good and bad quality and only when they got the idea about it, cocoa beans of high quality become possible to grow. This is the first step on a way to produce organic and healthy beans for chocolate – to use pure ingredients. These ingredients pass through different tests at a lab to get the information of their origin, purity, healthy anti-oxidants, etc. Theo Chocolate Company is one that uses green energy source to supply the process of manufacturing with power. Producing organic and useful product, the wrapping should be of the same quality and company’s team uses sustainable materials for that. Theo’s team is not very big but the leadership shows their evaluation to its employees and suppliers in all possible way encouraging them for good work and controlling every step of the process of chocolate producing (Whittington 2011). The last but not the least part into relationships with company is people, consumers, the first and the last judge who will determine any company’s future. They can take part in regular tours that take place every day: four times a day, 7 days a week.
Such a transparent and hard work brought results in 4 years after starting the company in 2006 when the first profit was received. Its growth consists 36% but it’s constantly increasing (Muhlke 2009). Theo Chocolate takes the leading place among 15 chocolate making companies and is the only one among them producing organic chocolate in the USA.