Latesha Randall, co-founder of Raglan Food Co, has now also become a co-shareholder of Weave Cacao, inspired by the vision of Oonagh Browne to help cacao farmers around the Pacific get truly fair prices for their cacao beans.
"She had been working with them for years as The Cacao Ambassador, visiting many Pacific nations and seeing that they were all facing similar struggles with the bulk commodity prices offered by large multinational companies," said Randall.
Over 2.5 million cacao farmers live in poverty, and most growers haven't ever had the chance to taste or try the chocolate from the beans of their labour to understand where their product has ended up. Browne has been working with villages to support them in levelling up the quality of beans they produce and, in the process, to position them to negotiate better prices. Weave Cacao has paved a pathway to allow consumers access to high-quality, ethical products, simultaneously giving growers a method of selling bulk cacao at a fair price.
"We're excited to help weave these two groups of wonderful people together: passionate growers and conscious consumers."
Weave products have been developed with a strong ethos for supporting cacao-growing communities at its core. With this in mind, Weave Cacao has established a trust that owns 26 percent of the business, with funds going straight back to the growing communities it works with around the Pacific.
Key challenges arise when working directly with remote regions of small farming communities. Some nations face political instability, complications with connectivity as there isn't always reliable phone or WiFi access, and the balance of being aware that Weave Cacao is acting respectfully in being open to the communities' unique ways of seeing the world.
"We do not feel like we have 'the answers'. We are there to come alongside, help, support, and work together collaboratively."
Community engagement is at the centre of the Weave Cacao project, as the team has planned further trips for this year, sending a team to Papua New Guinea to continue improving production processes and cultivating relationships, as well as expanding to Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands.
Each product has been crafted by skilled chocolatiers and co-shareholders Mike Renfree and Oonagh Browne.
"The quality of our couverture chocolate is among the best in the world. There are no added milk powder or processing agents, only clean ingredients, organically-grown cacao and sugar."
Its 1kg products are also packaged in home compostable bags as an extension of its commitment to environmentalism and the communities it supports.
As a recently launched business, a key focus is to bring on board Weave partners, chefs, chocolatiers, and home bakers who believe in and support its mission.
"We have already had our first expressions of interest from speciality stores like GoodFor and leading craft chocolate brands like Baron Hasselhoff's."
Currently, Weave Cacao offers 20kg boxes and 1kg bags of its 58% and 70% couverture chocolate drops, with a smaller product offering for supermarkets on the horizon.
Read more from the January issue of Supermarket News below:
