"Cacao for Schools"

In the previous post about a chocolate, I included a photo of the inside of the packaging or wrapper. Here are more details and close up photos of a "Cocoa for Schools" program:

The entire inside of the wrapper is dedicated to the advocacy.

How the company engages the farmers and communities.

The program is committed to improving the lives of cocoa farmers and their families in several towns in Tanzania.

Photos of improvements in the supported communities

Website and QR code for more information on the program

I recall that there are similar advocacies in the Philippines and particularly in Mindanao where there are many cacao farmers now growing cacao for local chocolate production including those of Malagos and Auro. These are worthwhile causes and should also help the industry overall.

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Filipinos - chocolate covered biscuits

An interesting 'pasalubong' from a friend is what I thought to be a chocolate bar at first but turned out to be a pack of chocolate covered biscuits.

 

A friend gifted me with this pack of Filipinos after her return from a vacation in Spain.

Nutrition information

Manufacturer's information. This is a product of Spain. There are 15 biscuits in the pack.

Manufacturing and expiration dates

I think we didn't store it under the conditions where the chocolate would not have deteriorated like this.

Each biscuit is in the shape of a donut.

They still tasted good though more on the sweet side for the chocolate. The taste was like that of Knick Knacks snacks, which are also chocolate covered biscuits.

 

I remember many years ago this was a topic of some discussion. It wasn't really as controversial as some people wanted or perceived it to be - making it appear as insulting to us. It's not and actually delicious.

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Dried fruits from Thailand

My wife and daughter bought some dried fruits for pasalubong to family and friends when we were in Bangkok earlier this year. We've enjoyed dried fruits from Cebu, particularly the mangoes from there but I have to say that the best dried fruits in terms of variety and quality are the ones you can get in Thailand. That includes the dried durian and durian chips that you can get in Thai stores. Here are a couple of packs we got and enjoyed. I wasn't able to take photos of the other varieties but they were really good and didn't last long after opening (i.e., we finished eating them immediately as they were so delicious).

I still think we have the best mangoes in the Philippines but the dried mangoes from Thailand were right up there in taste and quality. Note, too, the "extra low sugar" indicated in the package. I don't recall we have those here but perhaps we should as mangoes typically contain a lot of natural sugar and people watching their sugar probably will hesitate getting these unless they read the label.

The dried pineapples were also great. Again, note the "low sugar" on the packaging.

We will definitely get these the next time we're in Thailand or if we see them in local stores. I don't exactly remember the price of a pack containing four varieties of dried fruits but they were not cheap and not expensive. This is probably the higher end products as you can also get dried fruit in the markets or supermarkets in Thailand that will be cheaper.

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