Bean-to-Bar Brand Loving Earth Expands into US Market

Melbourne, Australia– Demand continues to grow for artisanal, bean-to-bar chocolate due to rapidly growing consumer demand for socially responsible, sustainable sourcing. So much so that the term “craft chocolate” has been coined as the next movement following on the coattails of craft beer and coffee. Per a recent Bloomberg article, “The backlash against Big Food has crept from the supermarket’s beer and coffee aisles into the chocolate aisle – a rejection of candy as a commodity.”

Chocolate is the largest part of the $34.5 billion US confectionary industry accounting for $21.1 billion with 85% of American consumers buying chocolate. Even Hershey has committed to sourcing 100% Rainforest Alliance certified cacao by 2020. This momentum and buying power has the power to make chocolate a truly transformative indulgence –beyond craft, to conscious. The bean-to-bar, conscious chocolate movement is one that Loving Earth has pioneered for more than 10 years.

Leading the conscious chocolate movement, Loving Earth has continued to expand with their launch in the US market. Founder, Scott Fry comments, “As a market with a vibrant and ever-evolving health and wellness scene, and a strong consumer conscience – we’re incredibly excited to be bringing Loving Earth raw chocolate bars to consumers in the US. At Loving Earth, we believe we’ve developed products that perfectly marry incredible taste and optimal nutrition with a process that truly benefits those involved at every stage – we are raising the bar, for the chocolate industry.”

Loving Earth was founded with the mission to create the highest quality, whole food raw chocolate bars based on ingredients from around the globe that honor both the Indigenous communities who cultivate them and the earth and ecosystems in which they are grown. After traveling to India and Mexico, Loving Earth founder, Scott Fry, was inspired to support disenfranchised farming communities around the world by bringing a brand to market created from local commodities like cacao. His intention was to commercialize these commodities in a way that allowed indigenous people to continue their ancient, sustainable farming practices. Filled with inspiration following the trip abroad with Brand Director, Martha Butler, Scott created his very first chocolate bars in 2007. Crafting the bars on a night shift at a local bakery, the international demand for his delicious raw chocolate bars quickly outran their production capacity, and the Loving Earth company was born.

Driven by its core values, ‘Healthy. Sustainable. Fair’, Loving Earth products are free of sugar, dairy, gluten and grain. Loving Earth bars contain no artificial additives. The bars cacao beans are unroasted; raw, full of antioxidants and rich in flavor. The bio-diversity of the Amazon jungle creates a flavor that is complex and unique, with floral notes that invoke a sense of the rainforest. Loving Earth has led the way in developing deliciously dairy-free chocolate using non-dairy coconut milk, cashew and cacao butter to create the creamiest vegan chocolate available. Loving Earth bars come in eight delicious flavors: Salted Caramel, Creamy Coconut Mylk, Dark, Crunchy Mint, Raspberry, Lemon Cheesecake, Berry Crunch and Turkish Delight.

Healthy, Sustainable, Fair Loving Earth is committed to providing the healthiest cacao products; pure, minimally processed chocolate, grown organically and sustainably. Loving Earth’s ingredients are produced without the use of synthetic fertilizers, chemical pesticides or herbicides and are cultivated in such a way as to help restore native ecosystems, prevent erosion and support water conservation. Central to the Loving Earth mission is sourcing ingredients from the Indigenous communities where they originated. In this way, Loving Earth provides an environmentally sustainable source of income that also maintains the rituals and way of life that often revolves around the production of these ingredients.

Vital Partnerships: Loving Earth Chocolate uses raw cacao grown by the Ashaninka community of the Peruvian Amazon, the largest indigenous community in Peru. This partnership is vital in their quest to build a sustainable life for themselves and sustainable use of the rainforest. After years of violence and unrest in the area, defending against terrorists, drug traffickers, and loggers, this community has worked hard to protect their land and build up their way of life, by growing their indigenous cacao using traditional, generations old methods. Last year, in partnership with the rainforest foundation, Loving Earth helped the Ashaninka establish a certified organic, fair trade cooperative called Kemito Ene. Loving Earth has committed to buying the entire Ashaninka cacao harvest at a price significantly higher than they would receive for it locally in Peru. For the Ashaninka, this partnership means a vital improvement in their quality of life because it allows them to become financially self-sufficient.

About Loving Earth

Loving Earth is dedicated to sourcing and manufacturing the highest quality organic, fairly-traded and wild-crafted functional foods and raw chocolate. The three central principles of Loving Earth’s mission are to create products that always are Healthy, Sustainable, and Fair. You can find Loving Earth products on their online shop at lovingearth.com and in select retailers in the US, Europe and Australia. For more information about Loving Earth, please visit https://lovingearth.com/.