farm to bar - direct trade - single origin
About Us
Pure Chocolate Company is a Jamaican artisan chocolate brand born in January 2017 from a desire to give back and develop a long dormant and under appreciated homegrown product in Jamaica - its fantastic cocoa.
​
The driving force behind Pure are Rennae Johnson with her husband Wouter Tjeertes. Rennae is a seasoned pastry chef born and raised in Jamaica and knows the country, its farmers and community. Wouter has 3 decades of experience as executive pastry chef and chocolatier at various high-end resorts and boutique pastry shops in the Caribbean and Europe. Together as partners in business and in life, they combine their love for each other with the love to create a unique chocolate brand from the land of wood and water.
​
With every decision we take, we always keep one thing in mind - is what we do honest, sustainable and Pure?
Why Do We Do It?
To improve the lives of those we partner with!
​
We have been working with it for over 20 years, and in those years we have learnt that the chocolate world is not always a fair world.
Cocoa farmers are often underpaid, and in some countries child-labour is still daily routine.
With Pure we want to show that it's possible to make chocolate that everybody benefits from, starting from the farmers, by getting to know them, working closely together to improve their wonderful product and paying them a premium price for their products.
We also provide our wrapper as a canvas to talented local artists. With our products we want to show a side of Jamaica not always known to the world, and by producing our chocolate bars here on our island we hope to stimulate the local economy, even if it's just a little bit.
Rural Jamaica is a hidden gem in the middle of the Caribbean with breath taking sceneries, exotic flavors and beautiful hard-working people; an experience brought to you, through our fine-flavored artisan chocolate.
-
Why is your bean to bar chocolate more expensive than regular chocolate?As craft chocolate makers, we are passionate about what we do. We source only the best varietals of beans available and pay the farmer a premium to ensure he can maintain his crop, farm and family. Most regular chocolate comes from bulk cocoa, which consists of low-grade beans with little to no flavor or character. All kind of additives and excessive amounts of sugar are mixed in to standardize the taste. Artisan makers take great pride in their product and put significant efforts into their high-end packaging to ensure the quality of the chocolate so you get the best possible bar. On top of this, all chocolate is produced by the makers with great attention to detail, from picking the type of pods to hand sorting the beans and roasting every batch to perfection. Within our small facilities, we are trying to change an industry that is unfortunately far from perfect, one bar at a time.
-
Do you offer wholesale?Would you like to offer PURE Chocolate products in your retail store, restaurant, coffee shop, gift boxes or local market? We partner with a variety of retailers around the world and we're always on the lookout for new ones. We'd love to work with you! Send us a request using our Contact Form.
-
Do you offer white label / private label services?Yes! We offer private label bars with volumes starting at 150 pieces per type. You can determine the flavors, colors and even shape in consultation with us and have your own signature bar. Prices are dependent on the desired type of chocolate and added ingredients, for example nuts or spices. The ordered quantities also have an influence on the price. Please reach out to us and we will guide you through the process. Our clients normally design the wrapper of the bars; we can offer you a format to work with. We can also develop the design of the wrappers for you at an additional cost. We will provide the ingredients declaration, nutritional values and other mandatory information. We can hold stock, but the cost of (printing and) wrapping must be fulfilled with the first order. Turnaround times can be as short as 14 working days after wrappers are finalized, so give us a call and let’s come together and create your own signature chocolate bar! Send us a request via our Contact Form.