Tableya: Hot Chocolate with a Cause

Two weeks ago, I visited Askinosie Chocolate Factory on Commercial Street for their free Tableya tasting event. After hearing the story behind the product, I am just so excited to share this story with everyone. It is such a neat process.

First of all, Askinosie Chocolate Factory is a factory in Springfield, Mo., that is trying to make a difference in the chocolate industry by making direct trade relationships with the farmers and giving them a portion of the profits. Every bar has a photo and autograph of the lead farmer of that specific cacao farm. I just heart their mission!

Their newest product, Tableya, is a traditional Filipino hot chocolate drink and means “tablet.” They source cacao beans in a town called Davao, and they started noticing a malnutrition problem at a nearby elementary school, so they brainstormed a way to help.

The PTA of the elementary school creates these tablets from the cacao beans and sells them to Shawn Askinosie for $1. Shawn sells in the US for $10. The $9 profit is ALL given to Convoy of Hope, a local non-profit that focuses on feeding initiatives and disaster relief all over the world—including the Philippines, which funds the food program at the elementary school.

So the parents have a “stake in the outcome” of their child’s health, and the program is dependent on the sales of product instead of donations. There are over 500 students at this elementary school, and they are measuring the students overall health to see the success of the program.

I am just so excited for this brilliant idea that is win, win for everyone! I am pretty sure that many people in my life are going to this in their stockings this year for Christmas! Who doesn’t love yummy hot chocolate that helps give Filipino children the nutrition they need to survive?!

-Beth