International Trade Centre 47d ago

The first thing Rennae Johnson, Jamaican born and raised, reaches for when she talks about Pure Chocolate is a memory: her grandfather making chocolate tea from cocoa grown nearby – a ritual she carried through years of pastry training and hotel kitchens. That memory became a business. But first, it had to contend with a story Jamaica's cocoa sector has been trying to shake off for years: that disease, collapse, and neglect had left it dormant and not worth the risk. By showcasing the island’s roots and turning Jamaican cocoa into a globally recognized asset, Rennae and her husband Wouter Tjeertes are proving, bar by bar, that the industry is very much alive. The co-founder of Pure Chocolate shares the story that led her to the threshold of achieving the company’s first major investment — and what this would mean for the farming communities whose futures are bound up with hers. This video has been produced by the International Trade Centre (ITC), under the “ACP Business-Friendly” Programme, funded by the European Union and the Organisation of African, Caribbean and Pacific States (OACPS).