Three Brands for Anyone Looking for a Sweet Treat!
By Kathleen McElroy
Approaching finals season, most of us are pretty stressed. When I am stressed, my go-to solution is a sweet treat, and recently Watermelon Sour Patch Kids have been my favorite snack to purchase at The Arbor. However, I have been looking for a sustainable replacement and came across these snack companies. From chocolate to bananas, these companies are sure to have something everyone will enjoy!
Tony’s Chocolonely is a Dutch company that I have recently been seeing all over my Tiktok explore page. Tony’s uses traceable cocoa beans, meaning the company trades directly with cocoa farmers to assure the cocoa beans are produced in an ethical manner. They pay farmers wages the farmers and their families can live off of, as they value labor and the livelihood of the people they are doing business with. However, I wouldn’t say these high wages are reflected in absurdly expensive chocolate prices, as the prices are very reasonable. The company is fun and creative with their colorful packaging and they specialize in everything from milk chocolate to dark, with mix-ins like pretzel toffee and caramel sea salt.
Candy Kittens
A 100% plant powered company, Candy Kittens is a certified B Corporation and the first B Corp certified sweets brand. The company has reduced their plastic by 25% in their 140 gram candy pouches, removing 80 Tons of CO2 from the planet. Very impressive! Their gummies are equally impressive as they are shaped as adorable cats, coming in fruit flavors like sweet cherry and sour watermelon.
The last company featured is for more healthy readers with a sweet treat. Barnana is also a B-Corp company and they upcycle millions of bananas and plantains that otherwise would go to waste. They use bananas that are too ripe to sell overseas and purchase these bananas from indigenous family farmers at 30% above market price in order to ensure fair wages and less food waste. They sell plantain chips, chewy banana bites, plantain scoops, and plantation nuggets. The different snacks account for varying cravings, ranging from pink salt flavored goodies to Acapulco lime.
Happy snacking!
