Alter Eco Organic Fair Trade Truffles

A classic reinvented — for a new consumer who’s health-conscious, socially-conscious and environmentally-conscious.

Alter Eco Foods is proud to introduce their newest organic, fair trade product line: truffles! In dark chocolate and dark milk chocolate, these truffles are a bold and innovative addition to the popular Alter Eco organic, fair trade chocolate bars. Alter Eco has reinvented the colorful round twist-wrap truffles seen at every grocery store checkout counter. They’ve taken these much-loved favorites and made them with organic ingredients, adding pure lauric acid-rich coconut oil, instead of palm kernel oil, to their famous fair trade chocolate. Even the packaging is compostable. And while consumers are already familiar with the truffles’ smooth and melty texture, the sustainability-age makeover is all new, all Alter Eco.

Deep dark smooth chocolate sourced from Ecuador (Black Truffles) and Peru (Velvet Truffles) surrounds these sumptuous bite-sized delights. Pure organic coconut oil combined with milk and cacao creates the silky-smooth, melty filling. These Swiss-made, organic, fair trade truffles will launch with two classic flavors: Black (Dark Chocolate) and Velvet (Dark Milk Chocolate). Additional innovative flavors will soon follow.

Coconut oil is the perfect complement to antioxidant-rich dark chocolate. It’s been used for thousands of years by cultures all over the world for its positive qualities: it’s considered one of nature’s most nourishing oils. Newly popular in American nutrition circles (Dr. Oz has done a lot to promote its properties) and credited by numerous scientific sources with an impressive list of health benefits — from controlling weight, to improving memory, to regulating cholesterol. “Coconut oil is taking the nutrition world by storm with its array of amazing health-promoting properties,” said Jessica Pantermuehl, Nutritional Counselor and founder of Beautifully Balanced Nutrition. “It is full of medium chain triglycerides, better known as the good fat, and even appears to raise high-density lipoprotein (HDL), also known as the good cholesterol.”

Importantly, coconut oil is a sustainable alternative to the more common palm kernel oil. Alter Eco sources its coconut oil from Fair Trade Alliance Kerala, located on India’s tropical Malabar Coast. This farmer-owned co-op practices jaiva krishi, a sustainable farming method that mimics virgin rainforest, where many crops grow harmoniously together, and many animal species — including wild elephants — roam safely.

But the coconut oil-based truffle isn’t Alter Eco’s only innovation. The brand has taken their commitment to the environment one step further by introducing new eco-friendly packaging for the truffles. Alter Eco has developed a groundbreaking wrapper — printed with non-toxic compostable ink — that will decompose in yard waste and at-home compost bins. Additionally, the outer box packaging of the truffles is recyclable. More information and demonstration of this innovation sustainable packaging can be found at: http://www.alterecofoods.com/sustainability/sustainable-packaging.

“Alter Eco’s goal is to provide consumers with a decadently delicious taste experience, while never compromising our own values,” said Edouard Rollet, Co-Founder and President of Alter Eco. “With these truffles, we’ve taken goodness to a whole new level.”

Alter Eco Truffles, like all Alter Eco offerings, are 100% organic, fair trade and non-GMO. The products are also Carbon Neutral certified. Alter Eco Truffles (SRP $7.99 / 10-pack) will launch exclusively at Whole Foods Markets from October 2013 to March 31, 2014. They will be available to all retailers through most major distributors by Mid March 2014 for April placements.

ABOUT ALTER ECO:
Co-founded by Mathieu Senard and Edouard Rollet, Alter Eco is a values-based brand of specialty food products that brings delicious, exotic, high-quality and healthy foods from around the world to consumers in the United States, while directly benefitting small producers in the Global South. In August 2013, Alter Eco became one of a record 17 companies to register as Delaware’s first benefit corporations, venture-backed companies that drive positive social change and now put social impact on par with financial returns. Alter Eco’s product portfolio includes Bolivian Royal quinoa, Swiss-made chocolate bars and truffles (launching Fall 2013), Thai colored rice and Mascobado sugar from the Philippines. All Alter Eco products are 100% fair trade, organic, carbon neutral and non-GMO verified. To learn more, visit alterecofoods.com.