At a time when many men may be upgrading their cars or exploring an extreme sport, they packed in their jobs and found a new lease of life in an unlikely source ; chocolate.

After transforming the front room of a weaver's cottage in Hebden Bridge into the powerhouse of Chocolala, the business partners, or "chocolala boys" as they have become, are now behind the first and only company in the UK to make luxury handmade chocolates that carry the Fairtrade mark.

What started off as a bit of banter about chocolate wafers between Niladri and 45-year-old Nicholas grew into a thriving ethical cottage industry which ensures that growers thousands of miles away are receiving a fair deal for their produce.

Niladri, 44, said: "We were having a conversation about KitKats and how they were fantastic but we were uneasy about the Nestl© connection.

"We did taste tests of chocolate wafers blindfolded and decided that nothing came close.

"We then started having funny conversations about how we could make our own. It was a throwaway line and from that point it just seemed to gain momentum.

"The next thing we knew, we were enrolled on a brief course to learn the essential skills for working with chocolate."

Niladri, who spent many years as artistic director of touring theatre company Tutti Frutti, converted the front room of his 18th century weaver's cottage in Hebden Bridge into a chocolate workshop.

"Two things were really important to us: we wanted to make fantastic chocolates and to make them as ethically as we could. We were clear from the very start that if we were going to do this, we were going to produce Fairtrade chocolates, " he said.

The Fairtrade mark is an independent consumer label which appears on products as an independent guarantee that disadvantaged producers in the developing world are receiving a better deal.

For a product to display the mark it must meet international Fairtrade standards which are set by the international certification body Fairtrade Labelling Organisations International (FLO).

The FLO regularly inspects and certifies producer organisations that supply Fairtrade products and the producers receive a minimum price that covers the cost of sustainable production and an extra premium that is invested in social or economic development projects.

Chocolala's ethical approach to trade does not end in its chocolates as every part of their packaging can be recycled, reused or composted ; from the cardboard boxes, which are made from 100 per cent recycled card, to aluminium cans.

As the first of its kind in the UK, it would be easy for Chocolala to bask in smug glory ; but its owners hope they will inspire others to subscribe to the Fairtrade ethos.

Niladri said: "It's great that we are the only ones doing it but I wish there was a lot more Fairtrade chocolate around because it's really important. That will be over when all we can buy is Fairtrade. Why is it that we can buy coffee, chocolate or sugar where the grower has not been given a fair price?"

Chocolala's website is: www.chocolala.co.uk.