THE company behind the Real Easter Egg and the Real Christmas Tree Decorations has added a Real Advent Calendar to its range this year. The Meaningful Chocolate Company trades on its use of Fairtrade ingredients, charity donations, and the inclusion of the Christian message on its packaging.

The founder of the Meaningful Chocolate Company, David Marshall, said that donations from sales of the Real Advent Calendar would raise at least £25,000 for the Children's Society.

Each window in the calendar contains "a line from the Christmas story and a Fairtrade chocolate star," Mr Marshall said. "Open the oversized window on Christmas Eve and there is a chocolate star and a beautifully illustrated, 24-page copy of the Christmas story".

The calendar has won the backing from the Archbishop of York, Dr Sentamu: "If Christ is being written out of Christmas, let's put him back by telling the Christmas story."

Last year, the Meaningful Chocolate Company said that it had changed the design of its Real Christmas Tree Decorations from Advent purple to red, after it had received advice that the chocolate giant Cadbury's had patented the use of purple in chocolate wrappings (News, 12 October 2012). It is returning to purple this year after Cadbury confirmed that its trademark was in a specific shade of purple, Pantone 2865c.

The Real Advent Calendar is available from Traidcraft and high-street stores, including Tesco. It is also available online at realadvent.co.uk