In 2009 Gregory Landua started a chocolate business with the intention of connecting cacao growers practicing sustainable agriculture with chocolate lovers in North America.  Cacao, the raw ingredient of chocolate, has long been a sacred plant that now is traded as a commodity on the world market.  Often cacao production is associated with slave labor and environmental degradation. 

Greg and his business partners had a different vision for their chocolate business, now called Nova Monda Cacao & Chocolate. They connect farmers and chocolate consumers directly by working with cooperatives and small cacao farmers in Nicaragua and Ecuador, paying fair prices and purchasing directly from the farmers and co-ops. 

They also participate in ecological harvest and community development projects, further enriching the lives of people in these far off communities. 

This small chocolate business goes beyond fair trade and organic standards, challenging mainstream practices in the chocolate industry. It’s a great example of the potential of developing solutions, rather than just fighting problems, in order to create the world we want to live in. As Nova Monda says, they are “bringing the ‘sacred’ back to cacao, and regenerating people and the planet one delicious bite at a time.”  

To find out more, you can visit their website at http://www.novachocolate.com/.