Gnosis Chocolate at the 2009 NYC Chocolate Show

At the end of October, the international chocolate cognoscenti got to know about Gnosis Chocolate. Gnosis Body Care made a splash (and some suds!), with our delicious-looking and smelling soaps in the body care area of the show. Watch our Early Show clip here. We also had a totally chocolate-devoted table, wo-manned by Chocolate Girl herself, Vanessa. She was there through the weekend, introducing excited visitors to all of the delicious Gnosis Chocolate flavors. The show was a lot of fun (watching people taste and experience our chocolates for the first time), and a great way to hear about how other companies are going beyond making yummy food. 

There were two chocolate booths at the show that are really in line with the Gnosis philosophy of caring about the greater good: The Grenada Chocolate Company and Madécasse.

The creators of Madécasse are devoted to sustainable agriculture.  The cacao that makes up the chocolate is from Madagascar. The finished products are also produced in Madagascar, a rarity in the chocolate business. This creates four times more income than Fair Trade.

The Grenada Chocolate Company is one of the only other chocolate companies that creates finished products in the country from which the raw materials originate. Founded in 1999 with the idea of creating an Organic Cocoa Farmers' and Chocolate-Makers' Cooperative, the company now has over 150 acres of organic cocoa farms in their cooperative and operates its own cocoa fermentry, located only one mile from their factory. They perform every activity involved in the production of their chocolate, from the planting and growing of the cocoa trees to the fermenting of the fresh cocoa beans to the processing their chocolate.

 One final booth of note is The Cotton Tree Lodge. Gnosis Chocolate will be cosponsoring (along with TheChocolateLife) a chocolate-themed retreat to the eco lodge from February 20th through February 27th, 2010!! On this trip you will not only get raw chocolate tastings and raw food talks, but you will also tour Mayan ruins, go cave swimming, snorkeling, visit a cacao farm and family, and more! Just a reminder, registration for this trip is closing soon, so be sure to register now if you plan to go!

A Farm in our Kitchen!

What you see in the picture to the right, is a view into Vanessa’s very own laboratory (her home kitchen)! But more specifically, you are looking at a melanger, or stone grinder. Late into the wee hours of the night (when creativity flows, new ideas are born, and deeper connections are forged to the food she creates), Chocolate Girl excitedly tinkers in and out of the “lab,” experimenting with various nut butter concoctions and even creating cocoa paste from the raw cocoa bean! You’ve already tasted the fruit of some of this labor if you’ve tried our Pumpkin Spice Truffle, the pumpkin seed butter was ground by Vanessa in this very grinder.

Gnosis Chocolate honors the value of doing things from scratch. As much as possible, our chocolate is infused with love and intention. Of course, it is not realistic to have a farm in a kitchen in Long Island City, NY; but we are coming as close as we possibly can to making our chocolates from the ground up =)