Whole Foods: Sweet Valentine’s Day Gifts {Giveaway}

If you’re like me, you think of Valentine’ Day and then you think of chocolate and roses. They go together so well. Valentine’s Day is not that far away so if you haven’t picked up a little token for your sweetheart or that someone special, there’s not much time to waste!

Whole Foods is one of my favorite places to shop. The store is so clean, the produce is usually fantastic, and I love being able to find unique items that I can’t find at other stores. Whole Foods has some great ideas for a sweet Valentine’s Day on cupid-sized budget, and I was lucky to try out some of what they have to offer.

Chocolate

Chocolate is where it’s at for my little family. Knowing that many of the chocolates we tried are also helping out the farmers of the products we enjoy so much makes it even better. Whole Foods has an amazing selection of Whole Trade treats (as well as flowers and other products). The Whole Trade Guarantee lets you know that producers are providing better wages and working conditions for the workers, use sound environmental practices, and the products meet high quality standards. Good stuff.

Drinking Chocolate from Allegro Coffee Company: This was my favorite chocolate of the sampling that we tried. True, that it’s not in the traditional bar format that we expect to receive as gifts, but it’s so good that you’re sure to receive a hug of thanks. There are a number of different varieties of Drinking Chocolate. We tried the Costa Rican 64 which is wonderfully dark, creamy, and ever-so-slightly sweet. This is not your usual hot chocolate mix, it’s much, much better. Plus, this Drinking Chocolate has the Whole Trade Guarantee which makes it that much better.

Alter Eco Organic Dark Cacao 73% Chocolate: This is for the true dark chocolate fan. My husband loved it (so much so, that I think it’s safe to assume that this is what he’ll be getting for Valentine’s Day). The bar contains crunchy nibs of roasted cacao beans which adds a hit of bitter to the sweet chocolate. I personally found the nibs a little too bitter, but my husband disagrees completely. He’s a fan of this Fair Trade Certified bar.

Divine Chocolate Milk Chocolate Hearts and Bars: We tried the Divine 70% Dark Chocolate bar. This is a great choice for a dark chocolate lover who may prefer a smooth hit of chocolate over the crunch of the Alter Eco bar. The cocoa beans that are used in  Divine bars are fermented and dried by farmers who co-own the company. All Divine bars are Fair Trade Certified and your purchase of these delicious bars helps to support the farmers in Ghana by ensuring they receive a Fair Trade price for their cocoa beans.

Whole Foods Market Organic Tanzanian Schoolhouse Project Milk and Dark Chocolate Bars: These bars are Whole Trade and Fair Trade, and are made entirely from cocoa purchased directly from farmers in the Kyela, Mbeya district of Tanzania. A portion of the proceeds from each bar supports education programs for school children in the district.

365 Everyday Value Organic Dark Chocolate Bar with Almonds: This is a Whole Trade bar where the intense flavor of cacao is balanced with organic vanilla extract from Madagascar and organic cane sugar from Brazil.

Theo Chocolate Bars: Choose between Orange Dark Chocolate, Cherry, or Almond Dark Chocolate and Chile Spice and you will be rewarded with a Fair Trade bar that also uses organic cocoa and local mint, cherries and almonds.

Flowers

Valentine’s Day isn’t restricted to the sweet stuff of course, roses and flowers are a lovely way to say you care.

Whole Trade Roses: Pick your favorite shade and you’re sure to find it in these beautiful blooms. Not only can you give a gift that shows your love, but you can feel good about your choice of purchasing Whole Trade roses.

Giveaway

Let’s share the love and the sweets with a giveaway! One reader can win a selection of yummy sweets from Whole Foods! This giveaway is restricted to Canadian addresses only.

To enter: Leave a comment on this blog post telling me what type of chocolate is your favorite (milk, dark, hot, etc). Once you have left your comment, tick that option as complete in the Rafflecopter widget.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Disclosure: I received a selection of sweets from Whole Foods for the purposes of this post. All opinions in this post are my own.