Our Mission and Values
Laughing Gull Chocolates creates with a conscience. Each unique, mouthwatering chocolate truffle, bark, specialty bar, drink, sauce, or other confection, is the result of Lindsay, Karla, and Allison taking a global perspective in educating themselves. Part of this is being intentional about choosing a supply chain that nurtures relationships with the people who supply and lovingly farm the cacao. Laughing Gull uses their delicious confections to connect chocolate lovers to the source in a united mission to help change the world.
Mission Statement:
To craft high quality chocolates made with locally and transparently sourced ingredients. Laughing Gull Chocolates experiences create curiosity and inspire connection every hand in the farm to bar process.
How do we change the world with chocolate?
Sourcing transparently and directly traded chocolate
Sourcing transparently and directly traded chocolate, made from the bean by chocolate makers we trust who have developed their own personal relationships with individual, independent cacao farmers or cacao farm cooperatives. Laughing Gull Chocolates prefers the transparent-trade process, which means many of our confections can be traced from cacao field to bean to the raw chocolate we use in our recipes.
Want to know more about cacao from bean to bar? Join us for a workshop.
Being Transparent as a Company
Being transparent as a company is as important as requiring transparency from our partners. Read our 2022 Analysis Report here.
Curating Partnerships with Our Community
Curating partnerships with and purchasing ingredients from our local food and beverage community including creating special products like our Inspired by Rochester collection.
Current partners include: F. Olivers, Joe Bean, Sweet & Cute Coffee Syrup, Salena’s Mexican Restaurant, Laura’s Raw Honey, Living Roots Wine, Pittsford Farms Dairy, The Chai Guy, Katboocha.
Giving back to Our Community
Giving back to our community by donating a percentage of sales from the Inspired by Rochester collection to selected local organizations. We also support other organizations by donating tasting packs for their own fundraisers.
We currently support Willow Domestic Violence Center, Action for Education Equity, Saving AJ, Support Your Sistahs (The Afiya Center) and The Trevor Project.
Contact us for more information on fundraising.
Nurturing Educational and Family-friendly Spaces
Nurturing educational and family-friendly spaces in our retail shop, virtual events, and workshops.
Our Values
Lovingly Crafted Goods
Everything we make has a story and is artfully crafted with care. The love we pour into each bite of chocolate intimately connects us to our customers. All of our products are made by hand.
YUM!
Our chocolate creations are like nothing you’ve ever tasted. Our passion and eagerness to explore and push boundaries of flavor create rich, unique chocolate experiences.
Social Justice, Racial Equity & Belonging
We strive to attend to issues of power, privilege, and systems of oppression in our policies, practices, operations, and partnerships. Our team is committed to doing our own work and to leading by example. We work with and within our community, following the leadership of communities that directly experience racism and economic injustice.
Disruption
We believe we can do good and do well. We are part of a movement to upend the male-dominated, profit at all cost industry with a socially conscious, women-owned and led company intent on redefining chocolate and chocolatiering.
Community Involvement & Investment
We invest our time, resources, and power in and with our communities. We engage and partner with people, businesses and causes to create positive change. We show up by amplifying the voices and work of our neighbors, through sharing the joys and complexities of chocolate, by donating products and resources, and purchasing locally.
Ethical Sourcing
We carefully choose every component and pay close attention to how, when and by whom they come to be. We prioritize local, organic, high quality, delicious ingredients.
Learning & Teaching Through Chocolate
This ensures we grow personally & professionally, and remain at the forefront of the industry. Community education allows us to plant and nurture the seeds of change and connection together.
Laughing Gull Chocolates Impact Analysis Reports
What is fair trade and direct trade chocolate?
Fair Trade is a food industry certification obtained after a single review of farming and compensation conditions.
Direct Trade chocolate relies upon an ongoing relationship that requires transparency in farming practices and fair compensation.
Read more about our direct- and fair-trade chocolate suppliers
Want to know more about cacao from bean to bar?
Join us for a workshop.
