Out of all the amazing places we saw today, one of the best examples of the triple bottom line working today was at Sibo Chocolate. During the presentation, they explained the long history of cacao in not just Central America, but also how the world reacted as well. He spoke on how chocolate has become extremely corporate and mass-produced over time, and why Sibo Chocolate takes a different approach. Instead of following the profit-maximizing model, Sibo made the decision to pay for high-quality cacao directly from local farmers and keep the chocolate-making process in Costa Rica. This is a choice that improves the community, creates a better product, and preserves part of Costa Rica’s cultural history instead of sending the materials to be processed in another country.

What stood out to me as well was how they are using cacao byproducts for packaging instead of wasting them. That, too me, is a perfect example of the triple bottom line because of the mutual benefit for all groups involved. The farmers benefit from the payment for their high-quality cacao, customers benefit because of the better product they are receiving, the environment benefits because of less waste and less synthetic packaging methods such as plastic, and finally business benefits from the image of the brand improving due to this novel approach. It feels like a “win-win-win-win” situation as they put it rather then a business trying to make the most money at the expense of everyone else.

At the same time, there seems to be tradeoffs that can be inferred with this approach. Paying more for ingredients and investing in sustainable packaging is very costly as it was said and could limit how quickly the company can scale against corporations when environmental issues like climate change occur. However, this coincides with why the triple bottom line is so important. A company like Sibo proves that businesses can hold an ethical identity while still being profitable, making environmentally responsible decisions instead of treating those goals as obstacles.