Features · Producers ·Sep 21, 2021

Producer Spotlight: K'UL Chocolate

At Acme, we LOVE finding fellow mission-driven companies to introduce you to. That’s why we are so excited to partner with Bellingham-based craft chocolate producer and social enterprise, K’UL Chocolate. Allow us to introduce you to K’UL.

K’UL Chocolate has two beliefs: the first is that food should be organic, simple, and clean. The second is that if you invest in women they will reinvest in their families and communities.

According to co-founder Paul Newman, K’UL believes “there is tremendous power in understanding the human side of the supply chain since violations of human rights like child labor in the cacao industry are commonplace in many countries… our sourcing model and social strategy were developed to carefully select women’s associations to partner with, starting with the Dominican Republic and Peru.

K’UL Dominican Republic women’s association partner, Nelfi Garcia, General Manager

Our program works towards helping women’s cooperatives receive organic certification which provides an economic opportunity that potentially doubles their income. K’UL supports the organic certification process, coordination and inspection, then gifts the certificate into the women’s cooperative and pay for the annual renewal so that they can increase their profitability by selling either cacao nibs or roasted beans on the global market if desired.”

After sourcing, K’UL crafts their chocolate all the way from bean to bar at their facility in Bellingham, WA.

K’UL Chocolate co-founders Ari Lee-Newman and Paul Newman

On their chocolate crafting philosophy, co-founder Ari Lee-Newman says “we are only 100% organic and believe that food should be free from chemical fertilizers and pesticides. We also believe that using minimal ingredients is how chocolate was meant to be made and appreciated. Our chocolate is made from 3 ingredients: cocoa beans, cane sugar, cocoa butter (then the inclusions) and we don’t use any emulsifiers such as soy lecithin in our bars.

All of our chocolate is made from organic, fair trade ingredients, cacao beans, cocoa butter and cane sugar. We source our inclusions the same way we do our cacao, building relationships with suppliers that match our values and are willing to commit to the same rigorous standards we’ve put in place for our cacao.

We also do everything we can to support local farmers by purchasing ingredients that can be sourced here in the U.S.”

K’UL Peruvian Women’s Association Kelly Moscoso (left), President and Chairwoman of the Board of Directors for Oro Verde

Like Acme, K’UL believes in the power of people and our collective ability to bring a change to a broken system. That’s why we are so excited to offer all Acme customers who place an order before Wednesday, September 17 at midnight a free K’UL Himalayan Sea Salt Dark Chocolate. Make sure to add the free item in the Marketplace to your Acme order to take advantage of this free gift from K’UL!

According to Paul, Himalayan Sea Salt Dark Chocolate is one of their best sellers because the pink Himalayan crystal sea salt has a very high mineral content and provides a salted bar experience that is unique. The smooth yet complex flavors of hand-harvested cacao are perfectly balanced with the subtle salt crystals that balance and temper the sweet notes of currant and raisins.

You can learn more about K’UL Chocolate and shop their products directly from their website, or look for their sampler pack in the Acme Marketplace in future weeks to get their chocolate delivered right to your doorstep.

With love,
-The Acme Team