Fair Trade gambit: in realizing his dream, Joseph Whinney's chocolate factory in Seattle features the first Fair Trade-certified, been-to-bar products made in the United States. Whinney and his passionate management team believe that today's consumers are seeking out socially responsible chocolate products.

It's not every day that one sees the president of a company put on overalls and fire up a refurbished Barth roaster to start the day's cocoa bean processing. And although the quantities can't compare with those of larger cocoa bean processors in the United States and throughout the globe, Whinney

Ever since Whinney became involved in sourcing organic cocoa beans from Central and South America in the 1990s--establishing Organic Commodity Products (OCP) when the organic market was a mere $2-billion universe--he's toyed with the Willy Wonka-ish idea of making his own chocolate products.

Being a pioneer back then--Whinney was the first to introduce organic cocoa beans to North America--it's not surprising that he's trailblazing once again: sourcing, roasting, processing and producing single-origin, Fair Trade-certified chocolate products.

In reflecting on his most recent effort, Theo Chocolates Co. in Seattle's Fremont neighborhood, Whinney simply sees a continuation of what captured his soul in the first place: cacao and the notion of a fair price for a fair day's work.

"Back in my early 20s, when I was 25 lbs. lighter, I had volunteered to work with a small conservation foundation in southern Belize," he explains. "We were looking at how communities, such as the Mayans, were cultivating indigenous crops, interacting with the environment. Well, I fell in love with cacao, with the crop, the plant."

But as many have found out, the allure of cacao often translates into a demanding relationship. In Whinney's case, his passion for cacao clashed with the social and economic degradation found amongst cacao bean farmers.

"It was obvious that farmers were facing increasingly oppressive conditions," he says. "From my perspective, this stemmed primarily from economic issues. I looked at establishing a market solution, essentially building a business to help farmers while improving environmental conditions."

In Whinney's thinking, by tapping into a market that valued environmental stewardship, one that appreciated the special value of cacao, the farmers would benefit economically.

As the annals of history continuously relate, being ahead of one's time usually requires an ample amount of perseverance. Whinney recalls the reaction when he set out to establish the business, querying 10 of the existing cocoa bean processors in the United States about sourcing organic cocoa beans.