GOOD CHOCOLATE HUB IS AN ASSOCIATION THAT IS POLITICALLY INDEPENDENT AND AIMS TO PROMOTE AND IMPROVE SUSTAINABILITY IN COCOA VALUE CHAINS.
WHO WE ARE
The Good Chocolate Hub is a politically independent organization and sees itself as an NGO. For years, we have been concerned with the ongoing human rights violations and environmental problems in the Swiss chocolate value chains. But we are also chocolate lovers, economically, socially and politically networked and convinced that chocolate can also be produced and consumed responsibly. We are an organization that thinks about and tries out how sustainable consumption can also be communicated. We do not lose sight of the political agenda. For us, chocolate and cocoa are examples of food production as a whole and the complex interrelationships in food systems.
MISSION AND VISION
The Good Chocolate Hub creates connections: Between cocoa production and chocolate consumption, between indulgence and responsible behavior and between food and politics. To this end, the Good Chocolate Hub provides information, connects people, engages in advocacy and offers enjoyment and aroma experiences. We tackle the problem of the highly conflictual cocoa supply chain for bulk cocoa with viable solutions and options for action for consumers, citizens and politicians.
We are convinced that honest and fair chocolate production is sustainable and possible. A chocolate and its ingredients that are produced by people who work with dignity. Chocolate whose ingredients are produced with respect for the environment. Chocolate that gives consumers pleasure and joy. A chocolate whose explosion of flavor can tell a fabulous story. A chocolate that has real value.
Team
ANDREA HÜSSER
Managing Director and Board Member
Cocoa, human rights and agricultural development – this is where Andrea feels at home. Her work as a journalist, ethnologist and gender expert as well as her many years of work on consumption and human rights in the cocoa value chain at the non-governmental organization Public Eye made her realize how important it is to know the people and their needs in the food production chains. As a Certified Chocolate Taster, she knows the countless flavors that chocolate can develop. Together with Anja and Monica, she honestly built the Good Chocolate Hub out of the Schoggifestival and is looking forward to turning the conventional chocolate world on its head with new, more sustainable approaches and putting cocoa center stage.
Contact: ahuesser@goodchocolatehub.org
ANJA GLOVER
Board President
Anja can draw on a wealth of experience thanks to an early start in journalism and many years working in marketing. She studied sociology and cultural studies and decided early on that her work should have a positive impact. With her company, the agency Nunyola GmbH, she exclusively looks after clients whose social and ecological responsibility she can stand behind. Through her father Yayra Glover’s project, she was able to gain an insight into the world of chocolate and cocoa. Her goal is for people to think of alternatives when buying chocolate that will sustainably improve the lives of cocoa producers.
MONICA VALDIVIA
Board Member
A few years ago, the illustrator and graphic designer became aware of the problems in the cocoa business. Since then, she has supported sustainable production and meaningful projects in the cocoa sector and is fascinated by how cocoa has accompanied people for so many years and what delicious products can be made from fine flavored cocoa. With her work for the Schoggifestival, she would like to express her gratitude to the wonderful natural world and to those producers who are working for a better chocolate world.
ILDIKÓ GYOMLAY
Development of educational projects
“The clever man accumulates knowledge; the wise man sorts it.” (Alberto Moravia, writer)
Ildikó has always been fascinated by knowledge as a resource – whether as an economist, management consultant or teacher. For the Good Chocolate Hub, she develops and imparts knowledge on the topic of sustainability. Chocolate naturally plays a central role in this. It helps her to present the various problems holistically, but also to show creative solutions that harmonize people, planet and profit. A nice way to sort knowledge.
EVELYN KNAPWERTH
Project coordination and fundraising
Evelyn is a human geographer with a focus on development and globalization. In Bali, Indonesia, she supported the civil society organization Kalimajari in the implementation of the “Sustainable Cocoa” project with the aim of making the local cocoa sector ecologically and socially sustainable. In the course of researching her Master’s thesis “Human Equality and Societal Transformation: Gendered perspectives within a cacao-growing community in Bali, Indonesia”, she was able to emphasize that women and men can be affected by power structures and development approaches in different ways. As a chocolate lover, Evelyn appreciates knowing the personal stories of the people behind the products and wants to continue advocating for sustainable and transparent value chains and human rights in the cocoa sector at the Good Chocolate Hub.
Contact: eknapwerth@goodchocolatehub.org
DIANA FISCHER
Diana is the founder of Detours Zurich, a tourism company that offers social impact walking tours on various topics for locals and travelers alike. She designed the Ethical Chocolate Tour and developed it further with the Good Chocolate Hub. The tour raises awareness of the challenges in the chocolate industry, addresses the history of chocolate and its colonial connections and highlights local, honest chocolate makers who follow the trade model from bean to bar. Diana believes that highlighting local solutions to global problems will inspire consumers to change their consumption behavior and enjoy ethically and sustainably produced chocolate.
Contact: contact@detours-zurich.ch
EVA MOSER
Schoggifestival ehrundredlich project work
Eva studied cultural studies and has worked as a project worker in various fields – from publishing to NGOs. She works as a project worker for the Schoggifestival. Her professional focus and interests lie in human and children’s rights, diversity and feminism. She is a mother of two school-age children, reads a lot, likes travelling, cinema, concerts and good food.
Contact: emoser@goodchocolatehub.org