Exciting news from Love Bean Cacao

I’ve been putting this off. I’ve been using the move interstate as a reason, I’ve been using not having time as a reason, I don’t know why. It’s like I’m waiting for just the right moment, I’m not sure what that right moment is, what I think it should look like or feel like. I think I want some fanfare, some excitement, for it to be something, to be a big deal because its a big deal to me.

And it’s not like me, to postpone, put off or procrastinate something like this, something I’m excited about, but even as I write this I’m finding my attention is wandering off in different directions.

What is it? That I’m putting off even telling you that I’m putting off?

A few months ago when the costs to import cacao from Guatemala increased I pondered what this meant not just for my business but for those who drink cacao. For those of us who love to weave this medicine into our days and rituals and lives. Maybe you’re one of these people, who has found solace in a warm cup of love in the form of ceremonial cacao. Who has found comfort and depth, nourishment and peace and the many other adjectives I could offer to describe this medicine. The cacao I import from Guatemala is very special to my heart, but also holds a very potent energy. A depth that not all cacaos offer. (sure I’m biased but its been echoed back to me on many occasion) The direct trade means the money is going straight to the Mayan women who prepare it, supporting their families and the community. I know that these things are important to my customers, are a part of why they (you) buy cacao from Love Bean. And I acknowledge that with prices rising for so many things in our lives right now, drinking Ruk’u’x Ulew’s beautiful cacao as regularly as some of us consume cacao might begin to become untenable for some.

From a business perspective I had a couple of options; I could raise my prices even more or change suppliers. I didn’t love either of those and so a third option opened up to me. I would still need to raise the price of this precious Mayan Kakaw (cacao in Mayan) and I would add another cacao to the Love Bean line up… this is the punchline, this is the moment of fanfare, this is what is happening.. Love Bean Cacao is branching out and inviting you to expand with us to a new country and a new cacao.

It couldn’t be just any cacao from anywhere. I of course tried it, I of course love it, I of course feel a resonance with the energy of the medicine and the way its brought to us. And so I introduce you to Koko Love - a beautiful cacao from Samoa.

I love that we are sourcing from the pacific islands. Closer to home, less travel miles, still supporting a beautiful indigenous culture and community. A culture that has its own connection to cacao (koko as they call it). This cacao is collected from small-scale farmers on the island of Savaii in the Asau Village. It is then fermented in Samoa before making its way to the beautiful chocolate maker and koko extraordinaire Fipe Preuss in Naarm / Melbourne where she turns it into the beautiful cacao you are being invited to meet.

And what are you being invited to experience? A cacao that is chocolatey, lighter than Love Bean - or what is now called Kakaw Maya - in both flavour and energy, soft but still deeply resonant with the heart. Almost a light-hearted quality to it that I find to be a beautiful addition to my cacao rituals. 

I look forward to hearing what you think of this cacao, I welcome you to open your heart to something new as we welcome Koko Love to the Love Bean Cacao family.