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Raaka Chocolate

An organic, single-origin, and bean-to-bar chocolate company supporting cacao farmers across the world.

  • Clean Ingredients
  • Sustainable Practices
  • Ethical Production
FOUNDER Ryan Cheney & Nate Hodge
HEADQUARTERS Brooklyn, NY
Raaka Chocolate

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Behind the Brand

Raaka was founded in 2010 by Ryan Cheney and Nate Hodge. Ryan, an Austin native, was working in the tech industry when — unfulfilled by this job and lured by love — he decided to take a sabbatical and move to Thailand for 9 months. There, he joined a yoga school and learned a new way of life, including how to make raw chocolate truffles. This experience ultimately became the inspiration for Raaka, meaning "raw, wild, or untamed" in Finnish. 

After returning home, Ryan — wanting to live a more impactful and less processed life — decided to quit his job and start an organic bean-to-bar chocolate company. He partnered up (via Craigslist ad!) with his friend Nate Hodge and started out by buying 5-10 pound bags of cocoa beans from fair-trade farmers and making chocolate by hand in his tiny Brooklyn apartment, selling at the local farmer's market. Today, Nate leads the 25-person Raaka team as CEO & Head Chocolate Maker. Raaka makes all of their unroasted dark chocolate from bean-to-bar at their chocolate factory in Red Hook, Brooklyn, supporting their local community and small-producer cacao farmers across the world. They are delighting consumers with their consciously-crafted and single-origin chocolate products.

Meet the Maker

What has been your most unforgettable moment (good or bad) while building your company? - +

NATE: The first time we went to pickup a single pallet of cocoa beans from the east coast hub for cocoa storage. The stacks of cocoa bean bags were probably 30 feet high and went on as far as the eye could see. I could also smell the warehouse from a few hundred feet away. Fermented, but unprocessed cocoa has a very distinct, acidic aroma, and the air near the warehouse was dense with it.

What is your favorite thing to do in your free time? - +

NATE: Exploring is essential to me. Whether it's planning a trip somewhere, or picking an unfamiliar neighborhood in New York City to check out, I'm always looking for ways to explore things far and near.

What is an essential part of your daily routine? - +

NATE: I need a cup of tea, or something to sip on, around 4pm everyday to get me through the afternoon.

What is your biggest pet peeve? - +

NATE: The overuse of exclamation marks in modern communication. Save those for REAL emphasis folks.

What is one thing most people don’t know about you? - +

NATE: I'm a level 3 Sommelier, and love the history, geography, and science involved in studying wine.

What do you want to be remembered for? - +

NATE: I want to be remembered for treating people with respect, making chocolate products that add value to people's lives, and for educating folks on the pervasive travesty that is most commodity agriculture.

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