There's no golden ticket in this new pricey chocolate bar, but you'll win more than a mere factory tour if you choose one of Lesal Ruskey's $13 treats.
The San Francisco chocolatier promises to plant a tree for every purchase of her 3.5-ounce Original Beans bars. She tells the San Francisco Chronicle that she'll plant a tree in the rain forest of the country where the bar's fair-trade cacao beans originate -- either Bolivia, Ecuador or the Congo. A certificate on the wrapper lets eaters know where their bar's beans came from.
"People are very judicious about spending their dollars," Ruskey told the paper. "We also believe if consumers are going to invest their precious dollars in an affordable luxury that they're investing in more than fleeting pleasure."
Analysts say that the shaky economy doesn't mean people are cutting back on expensive chocolate.
"It sounds expensive, but compared to a diamond or a car or a pair of a jeans or anything else you decide to be frivolous about, it's not that expensive," food analyst Marcia Mogelonsky told the paper.
While Original Beans is by no means the priciest chocolate bar on the market -- French producer Bonnat's bars top $22 -- it remains to be seen whether choco-nuts will plunk down the $13 for a taste of the eco-friendly treat.
Would you?
[via: The San Francisco Chronicle]
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