If you’re looking to do something charitable this holiday season, consider your purchasing habits. There are many food, drink and wellness brands that not only make great products, but that also give back. Whether that means donating proceeds to a good cause, using fair trade practices or creating products and charities for people in need, here are 10 companies you can feel good about supporting:
1. Love with Food
This snack box delivery company delivers all-natural, organic snacks to your door each month. For each snack box purchased, one meal is donated to a local food bank through organizations like Feeding America and The Global FoodBanking Network. All snacks are free of artificial flavoring, coloring, hydrogenated oils and high-fructose corn syrup; gluten-free boxes are available too. Monthly memberships start at $7.99 per month.
[See: 10 Good Deeds and Why You Should Do Them.]
2. Alter Eco
This chocolate company works directly with small farmers in Peru and Ecuador to help them institute fair trade and organic practices. Its single-origin cacao beans are sent to Switzerland and made into unique chocolate bars, truffles and snacks using no artificial flavors or emulsifiers. Alter Eco also works with their farmers to replenish and reforest the land. The company is a “carbon zero” business, meaning it offsets more carbon than it emits.
3. Foodstirs
Offering baking mixes and kits, Foodstirs makes homemade treats easy and aims to get families baking in the kitchen together. Its mixes are sustainable and organic, and made with consciously-sourced ingredients like fair trade cocoa and biodynamic cane sugar. The company sources directly from small farms and works with the farmers to help protect and advance the fieldworkers. With mixes like salted chocolate chip brownie, sweet tooth sugar cookie and snickerdoodle blondie, there’s something for everyone.
[See: Healthy Holiday Desserts and Snacks.]
4. Hello Crisp
A love of food, cooking and entertaining led Emily Cherofsky to found Hello Crisp, which provides products for your kitchen, home and body. The handmade items include woodwork, textiles, decor and more, and are sourced from artisans around the world. Ten percent of the proceeds are donated to charities that advance artisan growth, provide economic aid and opportunity to local communities, and help indigenous cultures thrive.
5. SoapBox
This Washington, D.C.-based company makes personal care products including bar soap, liquid soap, shampoo, conditioner and body wash. For every product sold, a bar of soap is donated to someone in need. SoapBox supports charities both in the U.S. and abroad, including homeless shelters, orphanages, rural communities, Ebola survivors and more. Each product comes with a “hope code,” which you can enter on the organization’s website to see what project your purchase supports.
6. Dave’s Killer Bread
The No. 1 organic bread company in America, Dave’s Killer Bread was co-founded in 2005 by Dave Dahl after he returned home from serving 15 years in prison. The company believes in the power of reinvention, which is why 1 in 3 of the company’s employees has a criminal background. The company created the Second Chance Project, which works to change the stigma associated with a criminal background, and started Dave’s Killer Bread Foundation to support second chance employment.
7. Fire Dept. Coffee
A coffee company founded by firefighters, Fire Dept. Coffee offers a variety of blends and roasts for caffeine lovers. It carries traditional flavors like a dark roast and a Christmas blend, as well as specialty spirit-infused blends like bourbon- and tequila-Infused coffees. A portion of every order is given back to help support firefighter and military charities.
8. NuttZo
This line of nut and seed butters is made from seven different types of organic nuts and seeds including cashews, almonds, Brazil nuts, hazelnuts, pumpkin seeds, chia and flax seeds. Sales from every jar of NuttZo sold go to Project Left Behind, a nonprofit that helps support, educate and improve living conditions for orphaned and neglected children around the world.
[See: Seeds 101: A Guide, From Chia to Hemp.]
9. Elephant Gin
Made in Germany, this award-winning gin is handcrafted and made with rare African botanicals like baobab and African wormwood. For every bottle sold, 15 percent of the profits go to the Big Life Foundation and Space for Elephants, two organizations working to help conserve the African elephant.
10. Love Bottle
These BPA-free water bottles are made from recycled glass and are free of plastic. The bottles are all made in the U.S. Love Bottle is a Certified B Corporation, meaning they’ve met rigorous social, environmental, accountability and transparency standards. In addition to being environmentally friendly, 5 percent of each Love Bottle purchased goes toward Global Water, a charity that helps deliver clean water to those in need.
Editor’s note: The author is not affiliated with any of the brands mentioned.
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10 Food, Drink and Wellness Gifts From Brands That Give Back originally appeared on usnews.com
