A Bold, Bean-To-Bar Business—Bantu Chocolate Is Changing A Broken System
Veronique Mbida, Founder & Change Maker, Bantu Chocolate
Veronique Mbida of Bantu Chocolate is making waves. When she picked up the baton from her mother Catherine (who began a family farm on their land in Cameroon in 2016), she decided to set out and try to fix a broken system. Chocolate is loved the world over, and yet, when you pull back the curtain on some businesses, all behind it is not so sweet. For far too long, chocolate brands have exploited workers, paid them well below a living wage, and have done so amidst poor conditions. Although it did not happen overnight—it took Mbida five years to be exact to bring the company and its first product line to light—Bantu may actually be shifting the needle. Not only does the small company produce all natural products, but they know each and every farmer working for them, and pay them three-times the fair wage.
Limbe bar, 2022 Academy of Chocolate bronze award winner. Bantu’s first product to receive this … [+]
When Mbida’s mother began the farm, Veronique was well on her way to carving out her own professional path in fashion and design. From Cameroon then Normandy, France as a young girl, to Brazil as a young woman, Mbida chased other creative endeavors. So when her mother started the farm, the inner-workings of it were only on her periphery, despite queries from her mother to join the family business. Nevertheless, the tides turned quite radically one day in 2018, when her boyfriend brought her what used to be her favorite chocolate. Excitement over a favorite treat and favorite brand soon became a disappointing reality.
A few light-hearted conversations about her favorite brand turned into in-depth research about their business practices, branding and marketing efforts, and worker conditions. Upon her discoveries (which expanded to many chocolate companies), Mbida started taking her mom’s query about joining her more seriously. While researching, she soon discovered that many popular brands were doing a similar thing: while making some small changes, yes, they’d update their marketing and branding visuals to reflect what consumers want to see: information about fair trade efforts and best farming practices, for example. And yet, only part of the picture was actually true.
Noire, one of the four core bars of Bantu Chocolate, and the highest cocoa mass at 73%. The interior … [+]
No matter how much some companies attempted to be transparent, some of the ones she investigated were still not telling the whole truth. For example, child labor is still a major problem and workers rarely receive a fair wage. As of 2021, 26% of children 5-17 in Sub Saharan Africa were involved in child labor. Soon her mom’s offer to lead the business seemed to be the only decision that made sense. Making Bantu Chocolate not only fair trade but one that actually pays workers three-times the fair trade wage, with better working conditions, became her mission. Furthermore, being an African women-owned and led brand in a business dominated by men developed into an essential role for her to carry out and proudly promote.
Setting the Bar High
When discussing the company Mbida so loved and the disappointment that followed, doing something about it became her number one pursuit. “Their visuals were on point and yet the numbers didn’t add up,” she said, about the career move that has changed her life. It took three years of research and a move to London to set up production, branding, and packaging before releasing the first line of products, four bars, in the spring of 2022.
Just one year later, Bantu is beginning to buzz. The company has received accolades from the esteemed Academy of Chocolate and has recently expanded its product line to chocolate and nibs for baking. Furthermore, Bantu added a Kombucha drink called Boocha, which is created by blending traditional Kombucha with the juice from the cacao pulp. “Eventually, we hope to create products using every element of the cacao, from bean and pulp to the outer husk,” Mbida mentioned. Not only will this move diversify the brand even further, but raise its potential for zero waste.
When perusing the company’s site, viewers will undoubtedly get an education, from history and geography of the Cameroon region—unlikely taught to this extent in school—to the stories behind the farmers and the essential hard work it takes to produce the crop. When talking to Mdiba, you immediately sense her passion for the business, the products, the people, and the broken system she is deeply committed to changing. The icing on the cake, so to speak, happens when tasting the products. It’s truly a win win. Women-owned, women-led, great products, fair-wage, living conditions, people not bodies; it just makes sense. Bantu means of the people, so why not put them first and celebrate their efforts?
Boocha: Bantu’s latest product. The vitamin-rich drink uses a combination of traditional kombucha … [+]
It takes five years for cocoa beans to become the chocolate consumers know and love, so, in addition to its star chocolate products, the Bantu farm also maximizes the land and time by also growing avocados, papayas, bananas, and more.
According to Mbida, only 2% of the $100 billion chocolate market revenue is actually received in Africa, despite 70% of the world chocolate market stemming from West Africa, and has for for over a century.
Sweet Finish
Despite some of the harrowing facts and injustices that still loom over the industry, Veronique Mbida has hope. She’s currently looking into collaborations and partnerships and has her eye set on the United States. She says there’s something about places like California and New York, in particular. “They just get it,” she mentioned, when discussing her approach to business and product transparency. When coupling a beautiful product—inside and out—with business practices and ethics that center around equality, fairness, and sustainability, everyone wins. And that sweet chocolate finish to the end of a meal, or long work day, becomes all the sweeter.
Women from the village in Cameroon: Régine, Thérèse, Michelle, and Maria, who play a vital role in … [+]
Veronique Mbida, Founder & Change Maker, Bantu Chocolate
Veronique Mbida of Bantu Chocolate is making waves. When she picked up the baton from her mother Catherine (who began a family farm on their land in Cameroon in 2016), she decided to set out and try to fix a broken system. Chocolate is loved the world over, and yet, when you pull back the curtain on some businesses, all behind it is not so sweet. For far too long, chocolate brands have exploited workers, paid them well below a living wage, and have done so amidst poor conditions. Although it did not happen overnight—it took Mbida five years to be exact to bring the company and its first product line to light—Bantu may actually be shifting the needle. Not only does the small company produce all natural products, but they know each and every farmer working for them, and pay them three-times the fair wage.
Limbe bar, 2022 Academy of Chocolate bronze award winner. Bantu’s first product to receive this … [+]
When Mbida’s mother began the farm, Veronique was well on her way to carving out her own professional path in fashion and design. From Cameroon then Normandy, France as a young girl, to Brazil as a young woman, Mbida chased other creative endeavors. So when her mother started the farm, the inner-workings of it were only on her periphery, despite queries from her mother to join the family business. Nevertheless, the tides turned quite radically one day in 2018, when her boyfriend brought her what used to be her favorite chocolate. Excitement over a favorite treat and favorite brand soon became a disappointing reality.
A few light-hearted conversations about her favorite brand turned into in-depth research about their business practices, branding and marketing efforts, and worker conditions. Upon her discoveries (which expanded to many chocolate companies), Mbida started taking her mom’s query about joining her more seriously. While researching, she soon discovered that many popular brands were doing a similar thing: while making some small changes, yes, they’d update their marketing and branding visuals to reflect what consumers want to see: information about fair trade efforts and best farming practices, for example. And yet, only part of the picture was actually true.
Noire, one of the four core bars of Bantu Chocolate, and the highest cocoa mass at 73%. The interior … [+]
No matter how much some companies attempted to be transparent, some of the ones she investigated were still not telling the whole truth. For example, child labor is still a major problem and workers rarely receive a fair wage. As of 2021, 26% of children 5-17 in Sub Saharan Africa were involved in child labor. Soon her mom’s offer to lead the business seemed to be the only decision that made sense. Making Bantu Chocolate not only fair trade but one that actually pays workers three-times the fair trade wage, with better working conditions, became her mission. Furthermore, being an African women-owned and led brand in a business dominated by men developed into an essential role for her to carry out and proudly promote.
Setting the Bar High
When discussing the company Mbida so loved and the disappointment that followed, doing something about it became her number one pursuit. “Their visuals were on point and yet the numbers didn’t add up,” she said, about the career move that has changed her life. It took three years of research and a move to London to set up production, branding, and packaging before releasing the first line of products, four bars, in the spring of 2022.
Just one year later, Bantu is beginning to buzz. The company has received accolades from the esteemed Academy of Chocolate and has recently expanded its product line to chocolate and nibs for baking. Furthermore, Bantu added a Kombucha drink called Boocha, which is created by blending traditional Kombucha with the juice from the cacao pulp. “Eventually, we hope to create products using every element of the cacao, from bean and pulp to the outer husk,” Mbida mentioned. Not only will this move diversify the brand even further, but raise its potential for zero waste.
When perusing the company’s site, viewers will undoubtedly get an education, from history and geography of the Cameroon region—unlikely taught to this extent in school—to the stories behind the farmers and the essential hard work it takes to produce the crop. When talking to Mdiba, you immediately sense her passion for the business, the products, the people, and the broken system she is deeply committed to changing. The icing on the cake, so to speak, happens when tasting the products. It’s truly a win win. Women-owned, women-led, great products, fair-wage, living conditions, people not bodies; it just makes sense. Bantu means of the people, so why not put them first and celebrate their efforts?
Boocha: Bantu’s latest product. The vitamin-rich drink uses a combination of traditional kombucha … [+]
It takes five years for cocoa beans to become the chocolate consumers know and love, so, in addition to its star chocolate products, the Bantu farm also maximizes the land and time by also growing avocados, papayas, bananas, and more.
According to Mbida, only 2% of the $100 billion chocolate market revenue is actually received in Africa, despite 70% of the world chocolate market stemming from West Africa, and has for for over a century.
Sweet Finish
Despite some of the harrowing facts and injustices that still loom over the industry, Veronique Mbida has hope. She’s currently looking into collaborations and partnerships and has her eye set on the United States. She says there’s something about places like California and New York, in particular. “They just get it,” she mentioned, when discussing her approach to business and product transparency. When coupling a beautiful product—inside and out—with business practices and ethics that center around equality, fairness, and sustainability, everyone wins. And that sweet chocolate finish to the end of a meal, or long work day, becomes all the sweeter.
Women from the village in Cameroon: Régine, Thérèse, Michelle, and Maria, who play a vital role in … [+]
