Marōtini met Cacao at Te Takutai o te Titi marae in 2018.

My first meeting with Cacao was on my very first multi day stay at my own marae, Te Takutai o te Titi, Ōraka, Aparima in 2018. Upon my whenua for the first time I met in moemoea my tupuna Moitoi Toi, she embraced me and held me as I slept. The next day we shared in community activation to bring people together.
I didn’t know it then but we were to have a profound future.

I was reintroduced to cacao again by my mentor Chelita Zainey through her mahi and being in receivership of her rongoā. This reconnection to cacao was potent and created incredible long standing change in my own wellbeing. Opening my heart once again to the magic of the world and allowing joy to flow. This connection lead me to The Cacao Ambassador and also receiving from Oonagh Browne the heart opening and potency of the medicine before me.

From Bean to Bar Journey

The farmer grows the cacao trees and harvest them sells them to the Cacao Ambassador affiliate to be sun dried and fermented
These are sacked up and shipped via sea to NZ and The Cacao Ambassador in Ōtautahi.
I pick up from CHCH (Ōtautahi)
Beans come to me in sacks

I roast them
Then i crack and winnow them - in CHCH
Then we have nibs and husks separated into buckets.

Then we weigh them out to our recipes and put them in the concher with other ingredients to make yums.
Once conched cacao for 24hrs, chocolate for 3 days then poured into bar form and set.
Packaged and eaten or sometimes eaten first.

Our Story

I have had profound change in my personal wellbeing with cacao, through all my years of struggling with wellness be it mental, physical or emotional. I had never found something that can hold you so deeply at a cellular level. This is the profound rongoā of cacao, available to those who seek deep reconnection to self and Papatāūnuku, our plant medicines are here to support us as we traverse the transformational times we are processing.

In 2022 I participated in the Cacao Emissary training in Ōtautahi with Oonagh and 8 other beings on their own cacao journeys, we shared a delightful day together learning and sharing about the whakapapa and wonders of the cacao plant, and more importantly where, how and who is growing and bringing it to NZ.

Our origins are currently Solomon Islands, Papua New guinea and Vanuatu. Oonagh is constantly working to create new avenues for our cacao farmers and their communities.

At the beginning of 2023 I went to Ōtautahi and The Cacao Ambassador to complete my training with the concher machine to start manufacturing my own cacao and chocolate.

An exciting step being able to truly bring home my inner child joy of making delicious treats in my mums kitchen. Upon arriving home with my machine, I set about making my first batch of cacao and chocolate. Knowing that my kitchen space would quickly be outgrown in my 40m2 home I approached The Dunedin Bowling Club who had recently moved from their food trailer to a restaurant.

With this kitchen addition I have been able to work from home and create space for more profound healing and time with Papatūānuku for myself. It’s all a journey towards the opportunities in front of us, it’s time to embrace them.

I am so grateful to all those who have supported this journey so far, wether you’ve shared a post on social media, supported me by purchasing, funded my first event and pushed me to keep going.

Kia kaha mō tatou

Tihea Mauriora
Marōtini

Acknowledgment

Ka kā wā acknowledges the whenua we operate on and that mana whenua of this area are Kāi Tahu, Kātī Māmoe and Waitaha.
Ka kā wā acknowledges the waters and whenua of Ōrokonui, Waiputai and Ōtama Kaipapa as Turangawaewae.
Ka kā wā acknowledges that tangata and Papatūānuku are one.

Ka kā wā acknowledges the mahi and mentorship of The Cacao Ambassador, Oonagh Browne.
Ka kā wā acknowledges the mentorship of Chelita Kahutianui-o-te-Rangi Zainey.
Ka kā wā acknowledges the tautoko of Sam Hill and the Antimony Studio Creative team. ‍

Ka kā wā acknowledges the long roads it takes to get us to the places where we find ourselves, keep walking, the path is here for you to meander along.

May cacao hold your heart as you do.

Tihea Mauriora

Your Stories, Our Ritual.

@kakawa

Inki

Mauri rich medicinal cacao carfted by a lovely wahine who pours her heart and soul into the mahi, There's nothing else quite like it!

Laura

First day of my cycle today and your beautiful chocolate came to my rescue. Because it contains so much wholesome goodness and its so 'Clean', it totally hit the spot on every level, well done!

Olivia

I'd been holding on to this for sooo long, waiting for the "perfect moment" to come so I could make it and just sit, chill and receive... But when you are a Māma, you just have to do those little things for yourself when you can. It's still a "perfect moment" it just looks a little different.