Our Sourcing

Where it comes from. Where it's going.

Cacao is one of the most problematic supply chains in food. Child labour, deforestation, and prices so low that the farmers growing it live below the poverty line. These are industry-wide problems. They don't have easy solutions. And no brand that's honest with itself can claim to have fixed them.

So we're not going to.

Here's what we can tell you: where our cacao comes from, what we pay for it, what we're proud of, and what we're still working on. We'll update this page as things change.

Where ours comes from

Our cacao is sourced from small-scale farms in Peru, working through a co-operative structure. The beans are stone-ground and minimally processed to preserve the natural fats and active compounds that industrial cocoa stripping removes.

What we're still working on

Full chain-of-custody traceability from bean to bag. We can tell you the country, region and co-operative, we can't yet tell you the individual farm. We're working on it.

Compostable packaging. Our pouches are currently recyclable plastic with a high barrier layer. We're testing fully home-compostable alternatives that don't compromise on shelf life.

The other ingredients. We can tell you our lion's mane comes from organic growers in California, our maca from high-altitude farms in Peru, our reishi and ashwagandha from established producers. We're still building out the same level of transparency for these as we have for cacao.

Why we're telling you all this

Because we believe the customers we want - the ones the brand is for - would rather hear the truth than a glossy version of it. And because the only way the industry actually changes is if customers start expecting brands to show their work.

We'll update this page as we make progress. If you have questions or want to know more, write to us: welcome@unifiedcacao.co.uk.