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For us, premium quality begins with how our ingredients are grown and sourced. We travel to the ends of the earth in search of the best cocoa growing climates. Selecting beans that are ethically, fairly and sustainably produced and providing education to farmers on cocoa quality and yield.
But we also believe we have some of the best ingredients right here in New Zealand! So we source local where we can. From New Zealand’s world-famous creamy milk, to artisan producers like Tauranga’s Mossop’s Manuka Honey. We’re spoilt for unique flavours. Discover the stories behind our ingredients!
No GM ingredients
There are no GM ingredients in our chocolate.
Rainforest Alliance Certified cocoa sourcing
All our Ghanaian cocoa beans are now sourced from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms.
Our timeline
100% of cocoa beans traceable from farm to factory
Including geo-mapping the 2,400+ farms we source from in Ghana.
Partnership with the Rainforest Alliance
All our Ghanaian cocoa beans are now sourced from Rainforest Alliance Certified farms.
Artisan Collection launches
Keeping it local. We showcase some of the world's best ingredients grown right here in New Zealand.
World Cocoa Foundation membership
We join a foundation dedicated to growing sustainable cocoa economies.
Whittaker's Cocoa Improvement Programme established
To support the local cocoa industry in Samoa.
Ethically sourced cocoa beans for Creamy Milk Block
Joined by our Dark Ghana Block in 2014.
J.H. Whittaker buys cocoa from the Vaa'i plantation
Our relationship with the Vaa'i family in Samoa continues today.
Frequently Asked Questions
The ingredients in our chocolate change depending on the type of chocolate and flavour combination. You can find the full list of ingredients and nutritional information for each of our delicious treats on our product pages.
Around 96% of our raw materials, excluding cocoa beans and cocoa butter, are purchased from Kiwi suppliers. As a New Zealand-owned company we are committed to supporting local. As it happens, we have some of the best ingredients in the world right on our doorstep!
Fairtrade and Rainforest Alliance are both working towards the same goals of improving conditions for cocoa farmers and protecting the environment, so it's a matter of choosing one or the other. We are proud to have been an early partner to Fairtrade, but have now chosen to build a partnership with the Rainforest Alliance to extend our commitment to ethical sourcing across our entire range of 116 products that are made with Ghanaian cocoa.
This is because the Rainforest Alliance certification model best suits our focus on sourcing cocoa beans only from Ghana (apart from a small amount of speciality beans from Samoa) and means we can have more impact there specifically.
We pay our farmers fair premiums for the beans they produce and build strong relationships with local community leaders who support and speak on behalf of our farmers. We also look for additional ways we can help make a difference. For example, in Samoa, we established the Whittaker's Cocoa Improvement Programmeto provide education and equipment to cocoa farmers. In Ghana, we recently built two washrooms for local schools and provided PPE support for COVID-19.
We source a small amount of specialty beans from Samoa. We have a close relationship with the cocoa plantations and their community and can trace the supply route without assistance. In Ghana the cocoa industry is more complex, so we partner with the Rainforest Alliance to ensure that all our Ghanaian cocoa beans are sourced from Rainforest Alliance Certifiedfarms. Thanks to investments we made in geo-mapping the cocoa farms we source from in Ghana, we can trace all of our beans from farm to factory.