In Part I and Part II of my interview with Debra Music, Vice President of Sales and Marketing at Theo, I discussed the early years of launching Theo, her own role in bringing Social and Cause Marketing to the business model of Theo, and the interconnected approach Theo Chocolate has spearheaded in the bean to bar business. But just what do all these interconnected webs of meaning actually mean when it comes to chocolate, and just where do the Theo founders envision going from here? Deb Music provides some insights.
What would you like to see in the future for Theo?
DM: “I’d like to see us have an east coast factory because I think the factory is by far the best and the most impactful vehicle we have for educating people. We get people into the factory and we can show them how chocolate is made from the bean and talk to them about our mission and have that intimate experience with consumers. That’s so, so powerful, and you can’t replicate that experience on a retail store shelf, by picking up the bar; I mean we try, but picking up a chocolate bar and reading the back of the label, is one kind of an experience. But being here and meeting our team and getting the whole vibe of our staff is just something you can’t replicate.”
“And we’d like to expand our retail presence so that we can replicate that intimate experience without necessarily having a whole factory attached to it. And certainly our vision involves our corporate social responsibility initiatives and measuring and quantifying the impact that we’re having on the developing world.”
Can you tell us something about your education mission and the social impact you envision?
DM: “Our firm belief here is that you can bring in a lot of services and do a lot of things to address various facets [of development]. But if you don’t help people get out of poverty, it makes no difference. I mean you can feed them for a period of time, you can provide services, and all those things are necessary, they’re an important part of the puzzle, but again, if you don’t help people figure out how to become economically viable on their own, the services are a band aid.
And organic and fair trade are a key to alleviating poverty?
DM: “Organic and fair trade are intrinsic to our sourcing program because they are an instrinsic part of our definition of quality. But they are within the umbrella of quality because what we want to help farmers understand is the real value of what they are growing and how to improve the quality of what they are growing and how to do it themselves. They need interventions and resources, obviously, in order to get to that point of self-sufficiency, which is what we offer. We partner with NGO’s [Non-Governmental Organizations] on the ground, and work directly with farmers to help them to understand how to grow their cacao sustainably, how to harvest it properly in order to maintain the integrity of the trees, how to ferment and dry the cocoa beans once they’ve been harvested, what manufacturers like Theo are looking for when they are inspecting the beans, how to assess bean quality themselves and ultimately, to help them gain access to markets.”
With this education about the relationship between cocoa production, and chocolate production, then, they may make more money?
DM: “The more they can improve the quality and quantity of their yields, the more access they’re going to have to customers, and the more of a premium they’re going to be able to command for their beans. Even gaining the understanding that this equation exits, understanding when the beans are premium quality, when they’re not; what they can actually demand and what they can’t in terms of price, is critical. [This knowledge empowers them to ask higher prices] rather than just being exploited and so desperate that they are potentially going to sell quality beans to the lowest bidder because they are just desperate to have cash in their hands.
“These are the primary components of farmer education we’re trying to address directly, so that when Theo steps out of the equation, the farmers are empowered and self sufficient..”
What can you tell us about the organizations you’re partnering with?
DM: “We partner with and support other organizations like Heal Africa and the Eastern Congo Initiative who are providing services to address other basic needs [such as domestic violence, hunger, access to resources]. Theo’s focus right now is on Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo. There’s a desperate situation in Eastern Congo and we know the people have not gotten the services and attention that are needed there. And there’s an opportunity for us to have an impact there because they currently grow cacao of a basic quality that we think has a lot of potential.
“We were approached by the Eastern Congo initiative which was started by the actor Ben Affleck, and Whitney Williams of Williamsworks, a consulting company right up the street from us here in Fremont. They’re doing some amazing work there and asked us to go in and assess the potential for exporting cacao. After visiting we determined there was meaningful potential. And because we’ve been doing a lot of work in Tanzania, in the western region of Tanzania, which is right across the lake from that part of Congo, we felt there was some synergy and that Theo could have a meaningful impact in that part of the world by concentrating our efforts in the broader region. And we are also doing a lot of work in Central America ongoing.
“Those are our areas of concentration for now, because we’re a small company and we can’t be everywhere.”
Have any of the farmers come to the Theo Factory and seen for themselves how the cacoa beans are processed?
DM: “We happen to have a farmer from Peru here today and we’re shifting in the direction of working with Peruvian farmers also. Over time we’ve had farmers here from Central America, South America. We’ve had our partners from the Eastern Congo Initiative here, but to date, no farmers [from Africa] have come to the Theo factory. That would require resources and it’s easier, more affordable – and more critical – for us to go there based on where they are in the life cycle of our projects with them. So us going there and assessing their farms, seeing what they’re doing at the preliminary stages of growing and harvesting and fermenting and drying is more critical at this point. At some point we’ll bring them here so they can see and understand what happens to the beans once they leave their farm. Many of the farmers we work with in Africa have no understanding of what the beans are even used for once they leave their farms.”
As you’ve become more and more successful in the chocolate industry, have you faced any criticism?
DM: We definitely have; I think we’ve recognized that the more successful we become the more subject we are to criticism, and at times from places that have really surprised us. Our core way of being is that we focus on what we’re doing, what our mission is, who we are, and all to the extent that we hold ourselves accountable to a very high standard of behavior. And we believe in full transparency around everything we do, which is why Theo is certified “Fair for Life.”
“You know, Joe and I believe it’s a lot easier to destroy something than it is to create something, and we try to stay focused on creating something that we think is beautiful and hopefully will have a very positive impact on everyone who comes in contact with it. And we have an extraordinary team of people around us who I think believe the same thing. And that’s powerful and humbling and I think no matter what happens with the company at this point, I’m so proud of what we’ve already done – both in terms of the unbelievably yummy stuff we’ve put into the world, the impact we’ve had on people [and] sharing their enjoyment of our products, and the work we’ve done with farmers.
So what next for Theo?
DM: “Well, hopefully lots of, and always more and better, products. Always, always working on improving the quality of the chocolate we make. Deepening and strengthening our relationship with farmers and measuring that, and then, firm establishment as the most beloved chocolate brand in the entire country!
Better than Hersheys?
DM: You said it, not me! We want to be the people’s chocolate. Beautiful, organic, fair trade chocolate that’s affordable for everyone from consumers here to cocoa farmers in the places cocoa grows.
When you think of a price of a Theo bar, it’s not affordable, when you compare it to a Hersheys Bar. But if you rethink how we eat chocolate, and our relationship to chocolate, then it becomes a very affordable –
DM: “Luxury. Yeah, I mean, when you consider what goes into the making of a chocolate bar, it’s so extraordinary. And of course people don’t know that. But when they learn [their view changes.] It’s the same way that people think that food should be cheap. All food, it’s not just chocolate. And food is not cheap, and I think we’re just starting to understand the real cost of cheap food in this country, both with our own bodies and the reality of chronic malnutrition at one end of the spectrum, and chronic obesity and diabetes on the other, plus the real cost to the planet, animal life and plant life.”
With that our interview came to a close, and as we toured the factory and tasted of the chocolates, I thought back to how my own understanding of chocolate had changed from my first public tour just a few months earlier, which launched me on my own journey of chocolate making and discovery. Hand crafted bean to bar chocolate is indeed a luxury, and to those of us in the developing world, quite an affordable one at that. And for those who grow the cacoa and sugar cane that goes into these exquisite bars, the Theo model of social marketing, fair trade, and sustainable organic farming just may do more for constructive economic development than any grand plan of the World Bank. When Neil Armstrong landed on the moon in 1969, he said it was “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” The Theo business model is by no means an achievement on par with reaching the moon, but if reaching for the stars is what it took for Joe Whinney and Debra Music to envision a better chocolate bar and a better way to conduct global business, perhaps they’ve offered us one small bite for man, and one giant bite of the apple for humankind, as we contemplate the interconnected webs of commerce and consumption. Now pass those Ghost Chili Caramel my way, this post has made me hungry!
