ALS Gift Boxes
ALS Gift Boxes
Milk Chocolate
McGuire Chocolate
174 Water Street
St. Andrews NB E5B 1B2
Canada
The McGuire Chocolate Company has partnered with The ALS Society of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, a non-profit organization committed to providing help and support to people living with ALS and their families.
Shortly after we moved to New Brunswick to grow our chocolate making business and family, Victoria's parents, who were entering their retirement years, joined us to be closer to their grandchildren and enjoy a slower pace of life. When Victoria's mom arrived in NB, we knew something was wrong. Her arms had gotten progressively weaker to the point she could barely lift them. We went through a series of tests, eliminating one illness at a time, until about a year later, she received an ALS diagnosis.
What is ALS?
Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Motor Neuron Disease (commonly known as Lou Gehrig Disease) destroys the motor neurons that send messages to your voluntary muscles. ALS is a progressive, fatal disease that takes away a persons' ability to walk, talk and eventually breath on their own.
Living with ALS is costly - families with an ALS diagnosis often face a huge financial hardship including: lost wages, accessibility renovations, medications and assistive medical equipment.
The ALS Society of NB and NS was there to support our family, and many families like ours, during a time full of unknowns. They provide easy access to assistive medical equipment, that otherwise would have been outside our family’s reach, such as a portable wheelchair, power chair, hospital bed and more. Access to this equipment relieved stressors on our family, turning our attention to focus on more joyful and fun moments.
The ALS Society of NB and NS is on a mission to help patients and their families navigate through this difficult disease with dignity and purpose. They provide support to people living with ALS and their families such as advocacy, help to navigate the healthcare system, emotional support and providing assistive medical equipment at no cost.
100% of the profits from these boxes will be donated to the ALS Society of NB and NS. Help us raise $20,000 to ensure people diagnosed with ALS and their families have access to the support they need to navigate this confusing and difficult disease with dignity and purpose.
Chocolates in the boxes may vary from pictures and will be curated based on which bars we have in stock.
Customer Reviews
I was looking for a gift box with dark chocolate for my sister. Came across this ALS gift box that also has the great message and purpose of donating to ALS research. My sister loved the chocolate and I love that this gift was a gift that kept on giving.
The presentation was exceptional,great package design on each bar is lovely,only tried one so far...the 52%Oko Caribe,a nice light milk chocolate that leaves no aftertaste,so good,I'll try the rest at Christmas...I might even share one,or two.Thanks again for such a lovely package!
I was very happy with the presentation of this gift box and I was also very happy to support this cause at the same time.
It is an important cause and the bars are delicious. Happy to be able to support.
Changing the Focus
Industry Evolution
The 20th century chocolate industry was built on a few extremely large companies - making all of the chocolate in the world and distributing it through chocolatiers. Single origin wasn’t even niche – it just wasn’t a thing. In this model we lost all transparency to the source and cacao was treated as a commodity. There are even futures contracts for cacao traded on global exchanges. This treatment is similar to other commodities like oil and gold. The problem is that when we accept cacao as a commodity, we imply that all cacao is created equal. In turn, the effect on farmers is that they emphasize yield over quality. Why go through the investment and effort of having your cacao properly fermented if it’s not going to fetch a premium in the marketplace?
When we list our cacao source – not simply the country but the farmer group – you know that your chocolate bar is made from cacao the supports farmer premiums for a product that goes the extra mile.
High Quality
Fermented Cacao
An astonishing amount of effort goes into well fermented cacao. The fermentation process must occur within 2 days of being cut from the tree and cacao trees grow in some of the most remote areas of the world. It is not a commercial crop as it requires strong biodiversity to thrive.
On top of this, the fermentation process is capital intensive as it requires infrastructure and technical expertise. A tall order for cacao farmers who (for the most part) live below the poverty line and get squeezed by commodity cacao prices.
Tracability
Is the chocolate you eat transparently traded?
The best indicator is if the farm is listed on the chocolate bar. When the cacao source is listed – not simply the country but the farmer group – you know that your chocolate bar is made from cacao the supports farmer premiums for a product that goes the extra mile.
farmers first
ETHICAL AND TRACEABLE
Fair trade certifications do not go nearly far enough to ensure farmers are actually treated fairly in the chocolate industry. When your cacao sources are traceable you can be confident there is accountability in the supply chain.
A labour of love
The Chocolate Making Process
1
Working with fermented cacao
Only about 5% of cacao in the world undergoes a controlled fermentation due to the specialized knowledge and infrastructure required in remote areas.
2
Transparently and ethically sourced
We publish our supply chain because we are proud of its contributors. You can trace all of our origins back to the farmers and fermentaries.
3
Roasted at different levels
Roasting is the primary flavour influencer that a chocolate maker directly controls. We design, and continuely tweak, a unique profile for each one of our cacao bean origins.
4
Shell removal
Cacao beans are roasted in their shells which then have to be removed before grinding. We have built many winnowers over the years to help semi-automate this labour intensive process.
5
Grinding the ingredients
Melangers stones are made of heavy granite and roll over cacao until the fat naturally liquifies and eventually smooths out. This grinding process takes a week to complete and is where all of the ingredients of chocolate come together.
6
Measure microns
We use a grindometer to measure the micron size of our chocolate near the end of the grinding process. We take our chocolate below 30 microns which is as smooth as the human tongue can detect.
7
Obtain max flavor
The amount of air we exposed the chocolate to during the grind will harmonize the flavour components and mellow the insentity levels.
8
Feel good chocolate
It's easy to feel good while eating world-class chocolate made using only top notch ingredients from traceable sources.
Working with fermented cacao
1
Only about 5% of cacao in the world undergoes a controlled fermentation due to the specialized knowledge and infrastructure required in remote areas.
Transparently and ethically sourced
2
We publish our supply chain because we are proud of its contributors. You can trace all of our origins back to the farmers and fermentaries.
Roasted at different levels
3
Roasting is the primary flavour influencer that a chocolate maker directly controls. We design, and continuely tweak, a unique profile for each one of our cacao bean origins.
Shell removal
4
Cacao beans are roasted in their shells which then have to be removed before grinding. We have built many winnowers over the years to help semi-automate this labour intensive process.
Grinding the ingredients
5
Melangers stones are made of heavy granite and roll over cacao until the fat naturally liquifies and eventually smooths out. This grinding process takes a week to complete and is where all of the ingredients of chocolate come together.
Measure microns
6
We use a grindometer to measure the micron size of our chocolate near the end of the grinding process. We take our chocolate below 30 microns which is as smooth as the human tongue can detect.
Obtain max flavor
7
The amount of air we exposed the chocolate to during the grind will harmonize the flavour components and mellow the insentity levels.
Feel good chocolate
8
It's easy to feel good while eating world-class chocolate made using only top notch ingredients from traceable sources.
