Mexico City, Mexico — The Mexican government has introduced fair trade products that are Made in Mexico. The products include Chocolate Bienestar, in bar, powder and table versions. These are made with cacao from Tabasco and northern Chiapas, contain cane sugar, and are free of artificial sweeteners and preservatives.
The items also include corn, beans, coffee, cocoa and honey and are part of the country’s Food for Well-being program.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum emphasized that Chocolate Bienestar will be sold through the nearly 26,000 Bienestar Stores that will open this year in the most remote areas of the country. The goal, she said, is to create a fair market for small producers and promoting healthy eating for Mexicans.
“There will be 26,000 Wellness Stores in the most remote areas where other stores generally don’t reach. They offer attractive prices and fair trade. Small producers’ products are processed, sold in the Wellness Stores, recovered and then returned to buy the cocoa produced by the small producer.
“So it’s a fair market program, a healthy food program, and it contributes to the well-being of all these communities, both those who buy it and those who produce it,” she explained.
Sheinbaum says that Food for Well-being encourages small producers to have a fair outlet for their products and ensures that consumers have access to a good product.
“It encourages those who produce cocoa, particularly small producers who also do so agroecologically, to have a fair outlet for their entire product. It has the advantage that it has chocolate, it has cocoa.
“For example, without mentioning brands, some of the chocolate you buy in stores have less than 5 percent cocoa, and in this case, it has 50 percent,” she added.
The head of Food for Well-being, María Luisa Albores González, said that for the production of all the food sold in the Bienestar Stores, a total of 355,593 tons of corn, beans, coffee, cocoa and honey have been collected. Mexico had made an investment of 101,179.45 million pesos, benefiting 36,879 producers of which 4,630 are part of Sembrando Vida coffee and cocoa.
