alchemy (noun) – A seemingly magical process of transformation, creation, or combination.
Tucked away in the wild southern interior of British Columbia, there’s some serious herbal alchemy taking place in an inland rainforest.
Surrounded by cedars, hemlocks, bears, cougars and elk…and a diverse community of eccentric artists, marijuana growers, remote workers, loggers, performing artists, musicians and everyone in between…is a woman with a passion for chocolate and social justice.
Beth Campbell is transforming, creating and combining superfoods, coconut sugar, ethically-sourced cacao, and healthy ingredients to create a chocolate bar that stands out from the sea of big industry labels on the shelves of your local grocery store.
This fierce solopreneur puts her heart and soul into her alchemy and is all about activism, social justice, nutrition, and supporting cacao cooperatives that value human well-being, better living conditions, and environmental sustainability.
But not only is there a magical process of transformation happening in her chocolate, it’s also happening in her business. Viva Cacao humbly started out under a different name, Belicious. But after starting a business from scratch, learning all the ins and outs and conquering the growing pains of becoming a female entrepreneur in the heart of the BC backcountry, it became clear her brand was much more than the name Belicous could contain.
For the last two years, Beth has worked tirelessly on transforming and recreating her business to embody what she truly values and to honour her mission and vision for her business to battle the dark sides of the chocolate industry and stand up for what’s right.
Viva Cacao was borne out of this core value. It’s simply a bonus that Beth’s chocolate is also packed full of conscious organic ingredients and superfoods like maca, lucuma, camu camu, carob, and reishi (a medicinal mushroom). These special ingredients are nutrient-dense and are packed full of vitamins and minerals. These superfoods also act as an amazing vehicle for your body to access and absorb all of it’s nutrition.
FEDECOVERA is the cooperative Beth sources her cacao from. For over 40 years, FEDECOVERA has been producing cacao with 42 partner-cooperatives, over 21 groups of small producers and 33,000 producing families. Learn more here. 
Beth has also been spending a ton of time doing what she loves most…honing her craft and perfecting her recipes. For all the devoted Belicious lovers out there, don’t worry — the foundation for the chocolate you love is still at the core of her chocolate alchemy.
But there’s a new chocolate sheriff in town…and it’s conscious, activated, bold, and revolutionary. Viva Cacao is a celebration of cacao and the incredible farmers who have cultivated it… and it’s a celebration of flavour, health, and life.
To learn more about Viva Cacao, check out our ingredients and our story.
