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Askinosie Chocolate has introduced a new product on its shelves – Kyela rice, an aromatic, white medium grain riceharvested by the Parent-Teachers Association of the Mwaya Secondary School in the Kyela region of Tanzania. As KSMU’s Samuel Crowe reports, this is the newest product in Askinosie’s School Lunch Program.
The Kyela rice was bought by owner Shawn Askinosie for $1.50 per kilo, and will be sold for $16.50 at his factory in Springfield. Askinosie says one bag of rice sold will fund 220 meals at the school.
“When we’re finished with this project, after 1000 bags, that’s 220,000 meals for the entire high school for the whole school year, every day,” Askinosie said.
Askinosie has also re-introduced Tableya for a second season. Tableya is a traditional Filipino hot chocolate produced by the PTA of the Malagos Elementary School in Davao, Philippines. Askinosie says each package of Tableya sold funds 70 meals for the students, and that 90 percent of the kids at the school have gained weight since the program started in June of 2011.
Thursday night until 6:30, Askinosie Chocolate will be handing out free samples of champorado, a Filipino chocolate rice pudding.
“Oddly enough, the two ingredients in champorado are rice and ground cocoa beans, which is exactly what Tableya is. So we’re literally mixing the Tableya and the rice from both places – one from Davao, the other from Tanzania – in a wonderful dish, and everybody will get a free sample of that, and also a sample of the hot chocolate, Tableya,” Askinosie said.
Askinosie says the chocolate factory will be accepting donations at the door to benefit Askinosie’s Chocolate University.
Click here for more information about the School Lunches Program.
For KSMU News, I’m Samuel Crowe.