Discover our story with Cacao
MamaZing And Cacao: Healthy And Tasty Combo
We are passionate at MamaZing about healthy, ethically sourced goods that nourish the body and the Earth. We currently source with Oonagh and the team at Cacao Ambassador from the Pacific Islands and more recently TanyaTip and CocoaDoi from Thailand. We are working on sourcing other origins for more flavour profiles. We work either directly with the farmers or with the person who works directly, such as Oonagh. After a recent trip to Thailand, we have organized to go and help harvest and ferment the Cacao in the near future. And look to bringing others there also.
Medicinal Cacao
From the Cacao Embassay:
Cacao Ambassador works with Cathliro Solomons and Queen Emma PNG, who produce beautiful, potent nibs for us, from the farmers we work directly with, from sun-dried beans that are under 30 days old. The freshness of the beans is imperative in the active medicine. We then create custom blends in Aotearoa. Often, it’s many months of drinking, testing, and evolving our blends before they are available for purchase. Cacao Tokorangi took 9 months of evolution, for example.
Each paste is unique in its support for one’s life. Alongside our customised medicinal Cacao, Cathliro crafts 100% pure paste that is designed by the Cacao Ambassador for daily consumption, providing all of the profound benefits of pure potent Pacific Cacao. It is deeply in tune and potent in what it is offering, and is in collaboration with gifted, wisdom keepers, and at the core is always the weaving of Chelita Zainey. Oonagh is helping farmers in the Pacific Islands utilise their farms and spread their chocolate goodness. We use it in many of the goods we make. And offer it to the public at markets and online. It is packed with anadamide, tryptophan, PEA, polyphenols, magnesium, zinc and other essential minerals, with a beautiful, rich aromatic flavour.
Hill Tribe Cacao is one of our Thailand sources. In Doi Saket, Sunny and her team grow beautiful Cacao. We will be going to help them harvest and learn the processing method in 2026.
Cacao is artisinally grown, fermented and dried (below 47 °C), while maintaining neutral acidity to provide the best aroma and taste. Connect with our products and let it open your heart and heal your body.
Ceremonial Cacao Paste - How It Differs
Our ceremonial paste is a healing and heart-opening elixir produced and blessed respecting Mother Nature and her frequency. It is 100% pure organic, single-origin, ceremonial-grade paste. Made only from virgin crop, meaning the first crop of the tree and hand-selected pods resonating at the right frequency for healing. These beautiful pods
provide the fruit and seeds that are then fermented, and the dried full beans are milled into a creamy, rich paste following ancient traditions. It contains all the antioxidants and bioactives of the whole bean, with beautiful, rich aromatic oils to make a therapeutic, creamy elixir that is hardened into blocks and blessed for you to consume in ceremony.
Know The Journey Of Your Cacao
Cacao is actually a seed that comes wrapped in a white, sweet fruit inside a pod that grows on the tree (Theobroma cacao). Our pods grow in a variety of colours and show defined colour changes in the lines when ripe. Pods ripen at different times, so the tree needs to be harvested regularly. 14 pods are required to produce 1 kg of cacao, so a single tree can only produce 2-4 kg per year. The pods are then pruned and opened to release the fruit and seeds (beans). The fruit itself has a sweet, juicy flavour and is also a good source of probiotics. It is possible to produce fermented probiotic drinks from the fruit, and this is one way the fruit can be used.
Once harvested, the fruit is extracted and fermented for 5-7 days in fermenting containers or, more traditionally, wrapped in banana leaves. It is turned regularly to ensure the temperature remains relatively constant throughout fermentation. Fermentation helps bring out the desired flavours, and it adds a body and richness that unfermented beans lack. It also tames the seed’s bitterness by reducing the amount of tannins found in the beans, thanks to cellular changes that occur during the process.
After fermentation, the beans are laid out to dry and slowly turned and separated until completely dry. These beans are then ready for direct consumption or will be de-husked and sent for processing to be turned into our nibs (shredded whole beans without the husks), ceremonial paste (milled whole beans), butter (heat-pressed paste to release the fat and cacao mass) or cacao powder (the leftover mass from heat pressing).
