Ayissi Nyemba grew up on a cocoa farm in Cameroon...

a family farm still operated by her father and mother. She left the farm as a young adult and came to Canada to attend university but soon after arriving she started to work on the business idea of importing cacao beans from her family farm and making craft chocolate ingredients here.

Ayissi attended university in Quebec and relocated to BC after graduation, where Ayissi had other family. She continued to work on her business idea and she formed the company, Emkao Foods. Ayissi worked with the UBC Entrepreneur Incubator and she also work with a BC Agri-Food Accelerator who helped her find a location in Mission and directed her to Community Futures to help with funding her start-up.

This business start-up has been a learning experience for Ayissi, as a businesswoman and as a chocolatier. She earned her designation as a Professional Chocolatier through the Ecole Chocolate in Vancouver which gave her a deeper understanding of the recipes and how to work with the chocolate ingredients to create specific textures and flavours.
Turning cacao beans into chocolate ingredients is a multi-stage process that requires many pieces of equipment to produce Emkao’s flagship products: chocolate chips, cocoa powder and cocoa butter. Acquiring the equipment and setting up a food processing business has been a long path for Ayissi, and this past March she had a “Grand Opening” to officially open her doors for business. Emkao chocolate ingredients are available as a wholesale product for local chocolatiers and bakers.

Emkao Foods fulfils a dream the Nyemba family had for many years, to have a single supply chain from farm to market. EMKAO Foods is Canada’s first single source, traceable, sustainable, chocolate products made from organic cacao beans.

Visit her website to learn more: www.emkaofoods.com

This Editorial sponsored by Community Futures North Fraser