December 15, 2023
Wright search for Indigenous chocolate
A Māori Willy Wonka says chocolate has a dark history for Indigenous people – but he hopes to show it can be made ethically.
Chocolatier Thomas Netana Wright from Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Whatua and Te Whakatōhea has opened a new storefront near Westgate in west Auckland for his Ao Cacao artisanal chocolate company.
He says he’s been working since 2011 to create chocolate in an ethical manner from bean to bar, with 90 percent of his raw materials sourced from Indigenous producers.
“Certain cream and milk comes from Anchor, but our majority comes from Mīraka, a Māori owned dairy company. Every producer I work with is indigenous – for example, the beans from the cacao, the sugar, the vanilla, the cocoa butter. And that’s always been my thing is to highlight more of our people around the world or within the Pacific that are doing amazing things,” he says.
Last month, Ao Cacao became the first indigenous and Aotearoa chocolatier to have an exhibition at the largest chocolate expo, Salon du Chocolat in Paris France.