I’m stretching the rules here to give some cyber airtime to Pittsburgh-based chocolatier Edward Marc. Not too long ago, I received an e-mail regarding its charitable initiative, One Sweet Gesture.
The idea is simple. For every box of chocolate ordered online or via phone, this near-century-old gourmet chocolatier will donate 20 percent of the purchase price to its handful of partners: A Helping Hand for Haiti, Touch A Life Foundation, Make-A-Wish Foundation, The Wounded Warrior Project and the Children’s Institute of Pittsburgh. This “cause marketing” is such an easy way to increase outreach and to have a positive impact on those less fortunate—it’s pretty hard to pass up.
The family-owned and -operated chocolate shop is still new to the national market. However, it has long attracted a large word-of-mouth following among Washington’s political circles. A few of the feathers in its cap include providing chocolates for Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s campaign committee dinners and for Laura Bush to distribute at an event during the UN General Assembly. (There is actually a retail shop at the Pentagon.) They’ve also provided personalized chocolate medallions for diplomatic corps guests at Blair House. But what’s even more impressive is its long history of giving and commitment to corporate responsibility. And, in this day and age, that is a pretty cool business model.
Since they’re in Pittsburgh, and we’re here, we haven’t had a chance to sample the goodness. We have lots of wonderful chocolatiers in our region, so please support them. But this cause is worth noting and, from the looks of the website, the chocolate looks worth buying. If you know of any other food-related businesses generating random acts of kindness, please feel free to send them my way.
To learn more, visit edwardmarc.com.
