Is there such a thing as a cacao emissary? Yes, there is.
In late August/early September this year, Pacific Trade Invest (PTI) New Zealand supported a team of eight trained cacao emissaries on a trip to visit cacao growers on family farms in the Solomon Islands.
The expedition, named SHE SPEAKS, was an initiative of the innovative New Zealand-based company The Cacao Ambassador, led by Oonagh Browne, who is usually based in Christchurch. Her core team included Libby Millar, another Cacao Ambassador; and Dane Scott and Jordan Ranson, filmmakers from Manaaki Media.
If ‘Ambassador’ sounds like an unusual name for a business and its executives, then perhaps it’s worth reflecting on the mission of Oonagh’s enterprise, for this is a chocolate company that has ‘healing and people at the heart of its work’. This is a business with soul.
As Oonagh says, “The project has a key emphasis on its suppliers, and has a deep and ongoing relationship with cacao bean farmers in the Pacific. This is a unique relationship that is largely unseen in today’s export business world.
“It focuses on wellbeing, interpersonal communication and friendship, as well as the regenerative aspect of the farmers being connected and experiencing the medicine they are producing for the Western world.”
‘Medicine’ may seem a strong term for the product, but Oonagh reminds us that traditionally in Mesoamerica, the cacao drink was used in sacred ceremonies, rights of passage, as well as for energy, wisdom, connection to the gods, and so much more.
It was so precious that an emperor’s wealth was determined by his store of cacao. When the Spanish came and asked for gold, they were instead offered cacao – for that was the real, perceived ‘gold’ at that time in the Americas.
In modern therapeutic terms, chocolate contains polyphenols, especially flavan-3-ols (also known as catechins) and smaller amounts of other flavonoids. Chocolate also contains alkaloids, such as theobromine, phenethylamine and caffeine, all of which are constantly being studied for their potential effects on the human metabolism.
And, of course, there are the many millions of people who anecdotally add to that, with an appreciation of chocolate as ‘food therapy’ for feeling better. There’s obviously something essential here.
“Through inspirational education on every level, from the cacao tree, to the farmers, to how chocolate is made, consumers will for the first time deeply understand cacao and chocolate, and the chocolate industry will be demystified, leading to profound change, which will flow into the food industry in general,” writes Oonagh.
It’s little known that seeds extracted from within the fruits of cacao trees actually have an intensely bitter taste. They must be fermented in an ancient process to develop the flavour. After this fermentation, the seeds are then dried, cleaned and roasted. The seed shells are removed to produce cocoa nibs, which are then ground to cacao mass – a kind of ‘pure’ chocolate in rough form. It’s still some way to go to produce the temptingly packaged treats and common cooking ingredients we think we know so well.
International volumes of chocolate are huge. Annual global consumption of chocolate in 2023 is project to be at about 7.5 million tonnes. It’s a US$50 billion-a-year worldwide business.
The top ten cacao-growing countries of the world (in order of size) are: Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Ghana, Indonesia, Nigeria, Cameroon, Brazil, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, and Dominican Republic.
Cacao-producing countries in the South Pacific include (in order of production volume): Australia, Papua New Guinea, Timor-Leste, Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji, Samoa.
A pivotal intention of The Cacao Ambassadors’ work is to provide insight into the lives and the value of the farmers – especially (in the case of cacao growers in the Pacific) those working in remote locations in developing countries. It would be fair to say of those farming families that ‘they are us, too.’
“We believe this is a story waiting to be heard by the world. There is a memory within us, a deep remembering of our relationship with cacao and with the way we trade, that has been forgotten.
“This is not simply an opportunity to promote a brand of cacao,” says Oonagh. “Ours is a mission that is dedicated to the way we trade, and to bring reverence and access to one of the most ancient and relevant medicines to the human story.”
