In late 2005, Gabe Davidson and two kiwi barista friends had a handful of tiny espresso bars dotted around Melbourne's cheapest, most unwanted city laneways. As their reputation for great coffee started to grow, their attention turned to the drinking chocolate on offer, and they soon realised that the products available were substandard: full of potato or corn starch, milk powders (used as cheap bulking agents) and numerous artificial flavours and colours mixed in.
They got their kiwi on and began experimenting to develop their own gluten-free, nut-free, dairy-free, high cocoa fat drinking chocolate - that at the time was close to revolutionary.
The Original Cocoa Traders was established and the deeply flavoursome drinking chocolate blends now known as Koko Deluxe, Mofo Deluxe and the new Mofo Deluxe Premium (cane sugar free) are sold in Australia, New York, London, Japan, Singapore and, of course, throughout Gabe's home country of New Zealand.
