For Moka Origins Product Quality and Quality of Life Go Hand in Hand
Moka Origins in Pennsylvania
Based in Honesdale, Northeast Pennsylvania, Moka Origins is both a coffee roaster and chocolate maker. Nestled down a hill with a scenic view of dense forests, the company invites visitors to learn about coffee and cacao in an old dairy barn.
Inside the well-lit workshop, you’ll follow the journey of cacao beans from their arrival in jute bags to their transformation into molded chocolate bars. Afterward, you can enjoy a cup of coffee or drinking chocolate at the built-in café counter. If you visit on Saturdays, there are two daily guided tours available, offering a deeper dive into the chocolate-making process and sharing the company’s origin story.
History of Moka Origins
Moka Origins chocolate and coffee
Husband and wife Jeff and Chelsea Abella first crossed paths with coffee and cacao in 2007. Originally from Wisconsin, the couple relocated to Cameroon to work with The Himalayan Institute, a non-profit organization, to provide educational and public health outreach in the cacao and coffee growing regions of Cameroon in West Africa.
In 2015, Jeff and his business partner Ishan Tigunait established Moka as an agricultural hub, providing farmers with the education and training to expand their coffee and cacao farms. Over the next 2 years, they introduced Cameroonian cacao and coffee to US makers. However, in 2017, the company made a strategic shift by turning into a coffee roasting and chocolate-making operation. “We wanted it to be a consumer-packaged goods company that is successful and can therefore honor [the people] in the supply chain,” explains Jeff.
The company defines itself as a social enterprise built upon two core principles: quality and ethics. Says Jeff, “A good story will attract people and you’ll get a first purchase, but we don’t want a first purchase and we don’t want a sympathy purchase. We want our product to be competitive.”
Focusing on Quality
Joe Kennedy making chocolate
Quality at Moka Origins is embodied by the rich flavors found in their products, such as the pudding and coconut notes of the 72% ABOCFA Ghana dark chocolate bar, the blend of plump dried cherries and the fruity undertones of the 72% Tanzania Kokoa Kamili chocolate, or the warmth of spices in Mexican hot chocolate dark milk bar.
For Moka, quality should not be limited to the confines of a specialty food store.
Says Jeff, “I want more of the world to experience craft chocolate. Not only is craft chocolate delicious, but it also brings awareness around cacao, the origin, and the importance that this product has on thousands of producers around the world.”
As a testament to this commitment, Moka Origins bars are available at many grocery stores, including all Wegman’s locations in the US. This dedication to quality allows Moka Origins to fulfill its mission. “We see coffee and chocolate as a vehicle to drive social change,” explains Jeff. “We plant a tree for every product that we sell and have been planting over 100,000 [coffee and cacao] trees per year. We also use proceeds to support our farmer field school in Cameroon.”
After 7 years of its chocolate-making journey, Moka Origins has emerged as a serious contributor to the bean-to-bar movement. With a team of 10 full-time employees, the company has chocolate products available in 400 retail outlets nationwide. Still, Jeff and his team remain dedicated to advancing the company’s mission. While the company still owns a farm in Cameroon, they also source cacao from other parts of the world including other parts of Africa and Latin America.
Last spring, Moka formed a partnership with Latitude Craft Chocolate to create bite-size mini bars in Uganda, yet another cacao-producing country. This collaboration aims to capture greater value at the source.
Chelsea Abella, Moka’s retail and travel designer, curates cacao themed “Origin Adventures” in countries like Mexico, Uganda and Costa Rica. Jeff describes these experiences as transformational for participants, who are looking for validating signs of ethical trade in their purchases.
A Broader Vision for Cacao
As Moka Origins continues to expand, Jeff remains connected to the importance of cacao in the lives of farmer communities at origin. He vividly recalls when he and Ishan were on a research trip in 2008 near the Cameroon-Nigeria border, where they met coffee and cacao farmers in a remote community. During their visit, they encountered a respected member called Ma Lucy and asked her about her choice to be a cacao farmer. Jeff was surprised by her response, which didn’t mention chocolate at all. Instead, Ma Lucy referred to cacao as a life-sustaining crop.
“Cacao is so much more important than the chocolate that we eat,” says Jeff. “The chocolate needs to exist for the market to demand cacao. Ma Lucy talked about the importance of cacao to get clean water, pay medical bills, and school fees. [Growing cacao] had nothing to do with loving agriculture, loving farming, or cacao. It’s all about its importance for her family.”