Let’s start with the tree – as many may not know, cocoa is a fruit that grows on the tree just like apples or pears. Not on our native orchards, but in the tropical rainforest. The big advantage: The cacao tree is a shade plant and needs other trees around it to grow well.

It means good cocoa does not grow in monocultures, that often comes along with deforestation and forest degradation and has led to destruction of rainforests multiple times. In its true nature cocoa trees are meant to grow in the midst of multiple splendour. And healthy, well-bearing cocoa trees are the foundation of Original Beans chocolate. To find the best and rarest varieties of cocoa in the world, brand's “Bean Team” roams the remotest corners of the world, often working on-site with indigenous tribes such as the Arhuaco in Colombia or the Zoque and Tzotsil indigenous people in Mexico abandoning the often common slash-and-burn and switching to semi-wild land use instead with mixed cocoa crops, which is much more sustainable.

To preserve the rare cocoa, a tree is planted or protected in the cocoa-growing areas for each single bar of Original Bean's Single Origin Chocolates sold. It is our Corporate Social Responsibility, to ensure the habitat of endangered species and preserving the biodiversity of the eco-system. The loss of forests is of particular concern because of their importance for the climate, both at the local level and globally. Original Beans' rare cacao trees grow in the world’s most CO2-rich forest areas. The maker provides secure incomes and training to cacao farmers. As a consequence, they feel empowered to better protect the surrounding forests.

Over two million trees have already been planted through One Bar: One Tree program. Each tree can be tracked to its origin.