This is how it all started…
Once upon a time…
There was a girl whose face was plagued by red, angry, painful zits that popped up every single morning. Despite spending heaps of money to save her face, the angry army continued to invade and it did not help when people around her passed judgments and nasty comments. Her self-confidence was all time low and she wished she could drink a potion to become invisible to the world.
One day…
She chanced upon a video where a guy regained clear skin in 30 days by changing his diet. She was amazed by the results and decided to investigate further. Day and night, she buried her head in books on food and nutrition. Gradually, through eliminating sugar and major allergens from her diet and by eating right, she cured her skin and her health issues. This enlightened her that “we are truly what we eat”. Psst… She even got herself some abs - what a bonus!
However…
She was deeply traumatised and became fearful and cautious of what she ate because she did not want history to repeat itself. Every trip to the supermarket made her feel deprived and sad because there were no healthy, gut and skin-friendly treats that met her stringent criteria.
She was tired of scrutinising every single food label and tired of being disappointed so she decided to create her own with ingredients she approve of...
This is Jo…
Like every Singaporean child, Jo studied hard, got a good job and followed “the” system but she didn’t feel happy. So she left her corporate job in search of her purpose in life. After 2.5 years of solo traveling around Asia Pacific and Europe and living in Australia, she found her “calling” when she came home. Siiiii, to be a chocolate maker! :)
All started from…
A bar of healthy, vegan chocolate from Australia. It was not available in SG and she was upset that almost all the chocolates consist of refined sugar, vegetable oil, preservatives, additives, and/or emulsifiers such as soy lecithin. So, she decided to make her own healthy, vegan chocolate. How hard can it be right? Gosh, it was tanto difficile* (IT-EN: very difficult). It’s certainly NOT mixing cocoa powder with coconut oil and sugar and refrigerating it!
But she didn’t…
Give up. She spent days and nights researching on chocolate and perfecting her recipe till the point she became a walking choco-pedia, triggering everyone’s interest in real chocolate. Finally after many failed attempts, she passed the “spoon test” – her chocolate finally tempered! The beta crystals finally accepted her friend request…
Happy Cioccolato?
Jo has a simple wish: she wants everyone eating her chocolates to be happy. Cioccolato is chocolate in Italian. Language, especially French and Italian, is a big part of her identity. She became fascinated with the Italian language after her first trip to Rome where she managed to buy some burrata from a nonna at the mercato (IT-EN: market) in broken Italian using Google Translate. Don’t you agree that “Cioccolato” sounds way chirpier than “Chocolat” and “Chocolate”?
Why TCM?
Like most Singaporean Chinese, Jo was exposed to Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) since young and has had greatly benefited from the herbal concoctions, acupuncture and tui na massages. She believes in TCM and its health and beauty benefits. So she decided to incorporate some TCM concepts that most of us grow up with into her chocolates.
Our chocolates are…
Handmade from scratch in micro batches in Singapore. Jo is very particular about ingredients and quality hence every ingredient is carefully pondered upon, sourced and prepared. Our chocolates are made of 100% natural, plant-based whole food, free of preservatives, additives and emulsifiers such as soy/ sunflower lecithin. We only use coconut sugar (not even raw cane sugar) and we do not include dairy, gluten, soy and nuts.
Chocolate making…
Is an art, math and science. It requires a lot of patience, understanding and passion. Besides wanting to create healthy and delicious chocolates that make people happy and to spread awareness on health and wellness, Jo also wishes to educate everyone around her on cacao and chocolates…
Her biggest dream is for Happy Cioccolato to be a social enterprise in the future, where majority of the profits will be channeled to initiatives to help and empower the underprivileged especially girls and women…