LATITUDE – '49% milk chocolate'

Latitude Craft Chocolate

'Latitude' means latitude and refers to where Latitude was founded. The chocolate company was founded in 2016 in the Ugandan city of Kasese, which is exactly at 0° latitude on the equator. Since then, the social enterprise has not only grown strongly - the team has expanded from three to 25 full-time employees - but is now also a certified B corporation.
Latitude relies on regionality! They work with local producers to source cocoa, now with over 2,500 farmers. The organically certified small farmers not only receive premium prices for their excellent beans, at least 15-20% above market prices. They also have long-term framework agreements with Latitude, fair working conditions and even receive microcredit to promote sustainable cocoa cultivation.

Uganda

"It's crazy that a cup of coffee costs more than a chocolate. There's so much more work in a bar of chocolate!” – said Jeff Steinberg, founder of Ugandan bean-to-bar manufacturer Latitude. And although this is the case, Uganda's cocoa production has increased significantly in recent years. Cocoa is now Uganda's fourth largest export after coffee, tea and fish. Why it is like that? Cacao trees grow best in tropical rainy areas, with a maximum temperature of 32ºC, plenty of shade and adequate rainfall (between 1,500mm and 2,000mm). And it is precisely these conditions that make Uganda the ideal cocoa-growing region. But not only that: Uganda is also at the forefront when it comes to flavors. Fine cocoa notes and creamy toffee aromas meet a balanced acidity. With just half a percent of African cocoa production, Uganda still has a lot of room for improvement. We look forward to more exciting East African flavors.

About Theyo

As a social startup, we not only want to sell the best products, we also want to help create global trade justice. Our goal is to make the chocolate world a better place by distributing responsibly manufactured products and promoting more conscious chocolate enjoyment. The protection of original varieties, biodiversity and fair prices - well above world market prices - are therefore our focus!