Bennetto Natural Foods Company

With a desire to see first hand how the cacao beans were grown, Lucy Bennetto travelled to the Dominican Republic. This was the moment she saw how ethical sourcing from an organic and Fairtrade cocoa supply was imperative to her values of making chocolate and how these practices not only improve lives but also the quality and flavour of cocoa.

From the kitchen benchtop, Lucy then started refining chocolate using an Indian spice grinder. Many experiments later Lucy continues to develop new chocolate recipes. The majority of Bennetto chocolate products are hand made by Lucy and her team in Christchurch, and recently she has partnered with a Swiss manufacturer to co-produce the 100g bars. The majority of cocoa is now sourced from Acopagro, a Fairtrade cooperative at the base of the Amazon Jungle in Peru.