Former WTA star Jill Craybas’ career has moved leftfield since she retired from professional tennis aged 39 in 2013.
The American, who reached a highest ranking of WTA World No.39 in April 2006, has swapped the court for the kitchen, having founded her own gourmet chocolate line, some of the proceeds of which go towards saving the declining bee population.
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Regarded as one of the fittest players on the Tour, Craybas reached the fourth round of Wimbledon in 2005 and picked up one title, the Japan Open Tennis Championship in 2002.
Following her retirement from sport, she followed her passion for high-quality food by taking an extensive course from a top pastry chef/chocolatier from France. Using that foundation, she achieved her goal of developing a recipe for a ganache in which honey was the exclusive sweetener used.
She then founded alltruist chocolates on the principle that the product is “decadent, healthy and antioxidant rich”, with her truffles gluten, dairy and soy free.
A crucial aspect of her work, though, is to halt the decline in bee populations, with part of the proceeds from each sale going to Project Apis m, which aims “to enhance the healthy and vitality of honey bee colonies while improving crop production”.
Additionally, in every box of chocolates, there are seeds for flowers, such as Sunflower Sunspot, that the consumer is can plant to help improve bee populations.
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Sustainability is a key theme for Craybas, with the ingredients sourced from companies that align with the alltruist’s values.
The chocolates come in four different flavors: pure dark, coffee, clove and chili and promise to “satisfy the palate as well as the soul”.
