Geeking about chocolate

Mothers always know what their children like to eat or drink. And they would go out of their way to find food that their kids will really enjoy. This was the case with Mel Medrano, a chemist by education, when she was looking for a hot chocolate drink for her young kids. All the products available in the market had sugar listed as their first ingredient and followed by chocolate flavorings, plus chemicals or additives. Being a scientist, she wondered how she can give her family something healthier to drink, made purely from just three to five ingredients. Seeing none available, she started to experiment with local chocolate tablets or tablea and water, adding some sugar to sweeten the beverage. Due to inconsistent quality of tablea available in markets, her kids would sometimes like it and sometimes they said it tasted like water.

There must be a way to standardize cacao tablets, she thought. She found out that the only way she could ensure consistency is to process the cacao herself. A self-proclaimed geek, she loved experiments and off she went to find the sweet spot of a mix using cacao, skimmed coconut milk powder and sugar.

Chocolate was not her main bread and butter but it was probiotics as a food supplement. Though she knew how to explain what it does to the body when ingested, it was difficult to sell. But little did she know, her experiments for her kids would be her main business a few years after. When she arrived at the now consistent formula for an instant cacao mix, her other parent friends also got to taste the drink. When COVID hit and school was suspended, the parents asked where to buy her cacao mix. She never thought of it as a business when she shared the product in school. But here is the golden opportunity – there was a demand and she could fill it.

After the pandemic, she focused on improving flavors, on noting cacao origins on her package, making other products with her cacao finds and so she became more and more leaning towards the cacao mix business. She put the food supplement production on the back burner as more orders for chocolate drinks came in.

Her children are her tasters and she also designed the packaging to cater to young kids who can now mix their own chocolate drinks. She tells her nine-year-old son to open the packet and get 200 ml of hot water and make his own drink. Because the formula is a tested one, every drink is now enjoyed by the kids and there no longer is wasted tablea with the wrong ratio to water. I asked how he knew what 200 ml was. Remember she is a chemist – they have beakers to measure liquids around the house.

She reminds us to always look at the ingredient list of any product we buy. The first ingredient is the one we should be concerned about – as that is, by law, the ingredient composing a big part or the most part of a processed product. If you are looking for chocolates and the first ingredient is sugar, it is more sugar than cocoa. It is quite simple yet not many people take a look at the list of ingredients mandated by law to be on every food package, box or bottle. She also warns about ingredient lists that have more than five ingredients; that simply means the product is highly processed and may contain chemicals as stabilizers to ensure a longer shelf life. She had to do the careful process when doing a mix – just three to five ingredients, no more, no less. If you see more than five, be careful. All these thoughts while making sure the shelf life is longer is what drove her to do other variants – unsweetened (only two ingredients) which only has cacao and skimmed coconut milk. Cane sugar is her present sweetener of choice but is the least in volume of the three parts.

Her other tip is to eat more plant-based food to help the planet. She and her husband Marvin and their kids all are on a “whole foods, plant-based” diet and have been so for about six years now. For them it is simply a lifestyle choice and nothing to do with animal rights or welfare. As a chemist, she knows what other foods do to the body and this is why she prefers fresh fruits, vegetables and grains.

Mel and Marvin probably have the least carbon footprint as they are also believers in minimalism, the new lifestyle trend of living with less. This is why we joked about her drink formula. Why 200 ml of water to 45 grams of cacao mix? Because she only had one cup size in her pantry – 200 ml. Truly minimalist in practice, she is not one to preach about living with less, but simply sharing how to live well while protecting our only planet.

They are plant-based subscribers to minimalism and protectors of the planet. What makes a family such an inspiration to their many friends? They went vegan and stayed vegan, unlike the others who followed but gave up sooner or later.

And their being vegan also made them use coconut milk powder in lieu of dairy. Her being a chemist made all these research trials a fun game and not an arduous task. This is why she remains a happy entrepreneur despite the challenges (rising cacao prices, for one). She likes to discover new ways of presenting her cacao mixes as she discovers new origins of cacao which can change the taste profile of her drink. After all, cacao is a natural product whose taste profile may vary depending on terroir. Mixing different cacao varieties and origins is a chemist’s enjoyment – having fun while doing business.

What started as an answer to her child’s request for a consistently good chocolate drink led her to her cacao business, appropriately called…CACAOMISTRY.

We hope for many more like Mel who can mix science with fun and business.