When The Coconet sat down with us for a full Q+A, they didn't ask the usual questions about growth and press. They asked the ones our own community asks. And those are the questions we care about most.
We still field calls every week from Samoan grandmothers and grandfathers wanting to know who we are. Are you a Samoan company? Who are you to package the koko and make it look fancy? Are you doing it right, like in Samoa?
Community scrutiny matters to us because of what we are. There are other people making Koko Samoa in New Zealand — but Aunty Tommy's is the only local NZ koko manufacturer wholly Samoan and Pacific owned. All our shareholders are born and raised in Samoa. When a grandparent calls, switching to gagana Samoa is what puts them at ease.
We've stayed deliberate about how we grow. We don't chase trends or push out a new product every quarter. Our koko is still slow-roasted and stone-ground, made by feel. And we're upfront with newcomers that this isn't chocolate, o le koko, a different category!
If we ever start sounding like we're selling "the experience of being Samoan," we've lost the plot. We just make good koko, and trust our people to bring the rest of themselves to the cup.
Read the full Q+A on The Coconut Network — including Marlon on Pacific sourcing, the "by feel" process, and the extraordinary Rivers family music legacy.
Sources
The Coconut Network (thecoconet.tv) — "From West Auckland To Forbes: How Aunty Tommy's Is Taking Koko Samoa Global," Pacific Blog Q+A: https://www.thecoconet.tv/coco-talanoa/pacific-blog/from-west-auckland-to-forbes-how-aunty-tommys/
