Tell Us Your Story. What motivated you to start your business? Why are you passionate about what you do?

Growing up around cacao farms in Cameroon I've witness a lot of issues with cacao farming. Such as poverty, deforestration and misseducation. Coming from a third generation of cacao farmers, it was natural to me to support the cacao farmers from my village by adding value to the hard work they were doing. My grandmother did not wanted me to be involved in farming cacao beans because she knew the challenges and the dark side of the industry and how little she gained out of farming. This is why I wanted to better support them, educating myself on how to open a direct trade model business where the farmers could finally benefiting from their hard work. Being a voice for them and in the same process providing healthier ingredients to Canadian. I studied chocolate in France and Canada. I was accepted in Quebec in 2013 to finish my Msc in Marketing. Then came in BC where the business community was predominant and better organized to start my venture. Small business BC was the first place I went to. And, since 2021 we opened facility in Mission, now in Vancouver raised 1M supported 100 farmers, grew 200 more trees. Certified our cocoa ingredients organic and Non-GMO and now! We are expanding to the US. market

Describe and demonstrate, including metrics, your community support. How do you support and uplift your community, and how do they show that support in return? Minimum 25 words, maximum 2500 characters.

As a social venture, EMKAO FOODS has gone above and beyond in supporting its local community by working with different universities over the last 4 years. We have created innovative products(Upcycled chocolate Kombutcha; we have offered a platform to 20 students (UBC, Trinity, SFU) from diverse backgrounds to help us with your marketing and financial strategies. Tour-different high school to educate on cacao origins; Donations to many associations (autism association, BFB, Bandits,SANSORIUM, Albert McMahon Elementary School's, Mission Hospice Society) Partnering with more 20 companies to create new products that are healthier and better Educational aspect on where the cacao comes from and why it’s important to support the small cacao farmers. We have hired local(4);Trained youth(10) and minority Serve over 2,000 businesses in Canada and worked with 200 farmers-in Cameroon.

Why do you deserve to win the Business Impact award?

Winning this contest could positively impact our business by helping boost our brand awareness and mission of supporting small cocoa farmers and providing healthier options to Canadians. It will help increasing our sales, it will be a hope for other minority businesses to create businesses, it will help us getting more potential partners/distributors to expand in the rest of Canada and the US., engaging with our audience, and growing our customer base. And simply because it's my dream since i attended in 2018 the award ceremony. I saw the joy, sense of proud and belonging the winners showed. This is how I knew I was at the right space to start my venture. I want to be part of the small business BC community that uplift it's entrepreneurs.

Tell Us About Your Culture. How are you creating a sustainable and healthy workplace where everyone feels welcome? Provide examples of leadership you show in interactions with clients, vendors, contractors, staff and others.

At EMKAO we have established and enforced strict policies: by creating diversity and inclusion initiatives( to learn about their culture, having meals together from different origins every Fridays, celebrating different holidays), We have also implemented strict no-tolerance policies for those who are noncompliant. We foster inclusive leadership: By setting the tone for the company culture( We hire new comers to Canada, youth and women), and driving organizational change and are training our leaders to set an example for a culture of tolerance and acceptance. At EMKAO we’ve also engaged external stakeholders that we partnered with diverse suppliers(Indonesia(coconut sugar), Madagascar for their vanilla beans), support community initiatives(by donating, growing trees) and engage in broader diversity efforts (educating our youth and working with universities)