I hope you liked the result of my very brief dabble with AI illustration and indulging myself with the generated image above that click-baited you here. After all that, you may be dissapointed in finding out that how Monk Cacao started had nothing to do with me making a dramatic change in careers (so, no updates to my LinkedIn profile to include Monk), and perhaps surprised that cacao wasn't part of the initial plan. Sorry to dissapoint.
So, how did Monk Cacao come to be? Here it is in a nutshell.
Just over a decade ago, our family circumstances took an unexpected turn following a series of financial setbacks. Assessing the situation, and thankfully with our marriage (and four young children) still intact, I came to a sobering conclusion: I might be working well into my seventies. While this wasn't exactly thrilling, it prompted a bit of a ‘giddy-up’ in me, initially to get myself physically up to scratch. If I was going to be working into old age, I thought I’d better do all I could to prolong my ‘healthspan,’ which led me into the world of running, biohacking (Wim Hof breathing, ice baths, meditation etc.), and various smoothie concoctions—some of which were, shall we say, less than delightful. I had all sorts of superfood ingredients in our pantry, which I randomly blended with varying results. Ironically, among these ingredients, the one I tended to avoid the most was cacao powder. (If you’re a cacao enthusiast, don't kid yourself. You know and I know it’s not great on its own!)
A pivotal moment came during a dinner with a couple of close friends who were aware of my health-tinkering ways. During the conversation, they suggested I should develop a product. Despite internally laughing it off at the time, that suggestion got the wheels turning in my head.
So, over the next few months, I continued to experiment, but this time with a bit more method and less randomness. The challenge (the 'problem statement' for all you corporate peeps) was to create something that was healthy yet tasted good without sugar (even in its natural forms like honey or maple syrup). After all, we all know that if something is healthy, there's a good chance it isn’t tasty. And wouldn’t you know it, the ingredient I had the most of in our pantry was, you guessed it, cacao!
One day, while browsing the supermarket aisle with Teena, I discovered a product among all the artificial sweeteners made from Monkfruit. The packaging claimed that Monkfruit was an ancient Chinese gourd and that its extract was up to 250 times sweeter than sugar, with no sugar profile, meaning no spikes in blood sugar levels after consumption. Further research revealed that it was Luohan Guo, something my elderly great-aunties used to put into soups and broths when I was a kid. We tried it in the mix, and it was perfect—no weird aftertaste. And so, it became the final piece of the puzzle. Monk Cacao and its inaugural product, the Superfood Wellness Blend, were born—made from organic superfood ingredients (MCT Oil, Flaxseed, Hemp Protein, Turmeric, Chia Seed, and of course, Cacao), with no added sugar or other nasties, and tastes amazing as a smoothie or a warm beverage. Get onto it at www.monkcacao.com and claim your first-purchase 15% discount. We'd appreciate your support.