Established in 2014, Living Koko is owned by husband-and-wife team Glen Reiss and Phoebe Preuss who are supported by their Melbourne based team and a network of independent small-plot cacao farmers in Samoa and Papua New Guinea (PNG).

They established Living Koko with friend Steve Ward after Glen and Steve were involved in a horrifying attack during a trekking trip in PNG in 2013. Living Koko was created to empower the PNG locals who were injured and the local village communities who had suffered loss of life and income due to the attack,

With the cacao industry still marred by unethical practices, the premise behind Living Koko was to work directly with small-plot cacao farmers to provide ethical and sustainable export opportunities to Australia, whilst retaining indigenous farming practices and food sovereignty.

Phoebe’s grandfather was a revered pioneer of cacao “koko” farming in Samoa. Having grown up in Samoa around cacao farms, Phoebe’s technical knowledge and deep personal and spiritual connection to koko enriched the ‘why, what and how’ of Living Koko. Today, Living Koko works alongside approximately 130 small plot farmers in  Pacific Islands, and is the biggest importer of Samoan cacao in Australia. We pay our farmers above market rate for their cacao beans, supporting a real living wage.

We want to enrich and benefit communities through cacao and connection, while treading carefully on the earth. We owe our success to the farmers, their villages, other small businesses, local government, community groups and our customers. Living Koko is not just our name, it is how we exist and move through the world. We invite you to be part of our story!