Meraki Cacao

11/02/2026

Can’t wait to collaborate with Yasmin from Layla’s kitchen catering.

All welcome to come along to our pop up shop at Yasmin’s gorgeous cafe on 21st February 9am - 4pm 😊

We have some very exciting news at Layla’s Kitchen Café 🤎

We are so happy to now be stocking the beautiful handmade chocolates from and honestly… this is not ordinary chocolate.

Meraki Cacao is created by Vicky, a small independent maker based in Northumberland, who handcrafts every bar from stone-ground organic Peruvian cacao nibs. Her chocolates are dairy-free, refined-sugar free, palm-oil free and made using wholesome, nourishing ingredients, carefully sourced from small farming cooperatives using sustainable methods.

What I really love is that her philosophy is the same as ours, real food, made with care, quality ingredients, and respect for the planet.

And to celebrate our collaboration…
✨ Vicky will be joining us for a special pop-up! ✨

📅 Saturday 21st February
🕘 9:00am – 4:00pm
📍 Layla’s Kitchen Café

You will be able to:
• Meet the maker
• Learn about how the chocolate is made
• Taste different flavours
• Enjoy free samples & tasters

If you are health-conscious, vegan, dairy-free, or simply someone who cares about the quality of what you eat, you really need to try this chocolate. It’s rich, pure and very special.

Come say hello, have a coffee, and experience chocolate in a completely different way.

We can’t wait to welcome you 🤎

merakicacao veganchocolate dairyfree sustainablefood newcastlecafe vegancafe handmadefood

11/02/2026

Palmyra Blossom Nectar is the most nutritious sweetner on the planet. It comes from the very special Palmyra tree (Borassus flabellifer) found in South India. Harvested ethically & sustainably by highly skilled tappers only during March & December each year.

Each tree has a life span of about 100 years but it takes 15 years before each Palmyra tree can produce fruit. These incredible trees are self-healing, unsusceptible to infections, meaning pesticides or herbicides are never used. Consuming this nectar is truly nourishing for your body as it is unpolluted by any chemical.

The trees are never cut down as they provide nourishment, employment and shelter for those who live and work the land. Every part of it is used, from the leaves for roofing on houses to the wood of dead trees as the building blocks. Our supplier works directly with farmers’ cooperatives to ensure they are paid a fair wage and the community as a whole benefits.

Nutritionally it is:

🌱 Packed full of B vitamins and trace minerals - helps to reduce tiredness, improve psychological function, regulates hormone activity & supports the immune system.

🌱 Low in fructose & has a low GI of 35.

🌱Used therapeutically in Ayurvedic medicine - helps to reduce refined sugar cravings, improves energy & helps sleep

We use it in all our products because we love its story, its unique health benefits and its beautiful taste.

It really makes our products special making them even better for you!

We sell individual packets of this special sugar if you want to try it for yourself, which you can find on our
website

www.merakicacao.com/shop

09/02/2026

We had a fabulous weekend trading at yoga and wellness festival.

When we chatting to customers about our cacao drinks, we recommended adding a spoonful of our award winning hazelnut & cacao spread into the hot cacao drink.

We thought it would add more luxury and depth of flavour.

After trying it ourselves this morning, turns out we were right!

We definitely recommend this combination with both of our drinks.

You can find them all here

www.merakicacao.com/shop

Our lovely mugs will be added to the shop very soon

Tag us if you try it!

07/02/2026

Looking forward to the first Earth and Essence yoga and wellness weekend The Alnwick Garden. Here with Dolly Daydreams Crystals KOHJI Candles Hotpod Yoga Morpeth That Yoga Woman Three By One Coconut NEVE Wellness The Sound Therapy Company Willow & Birch

04/02/2026

We use raw cacao in all our products. Grown sustainably under the forest canopy with the environment always in mind, it is carefully harvested by community groups in Peru.

Although cacao and cocoa start off as the same, the end product is treated very differently. Raw cacao is minimally processed to preserve as many of its amazing nutrients as possible. Cocoa is roasted at high temperatures and often alkalised which reduces the nutrients available.

Raw cacao is an amazing food. It is packed full of antioxidants, minerals, fibre, healthy fats and natural mood boosters & stimulants. Raw cacao is very beneficial as it supports healthy:


🍫 immune systems
🍫heart & circulatory systems
🍫muscle health & function
🍫 hormones

It can also lift your mood & energy levels.

Made with soul, our products only ever contain raw cacao nibs, raw cacao butter and raw cacao powder for maximum nutritional benefit.

Find out more

www.merakicacao.com

01/02/2026

We love it when you share why you enjoy our products!

Thank you Lucy for such a wonderful review of Edesia 😍

Edesia is our hand made, stone ground roasted hazelnut & raw cacao spread, sweetened with Palmyra Blossom nectar. Delicious and nutritious.

Try it on sourdough toast, pancakes, plain yoghurt, porridge, crackers, in your hot chocolate or straight off the spoon!

Find it here

www.merakicacao.com/shop

28/01/2026

What makes our bars so different?

Our ingredients

🌱We only use whole foods - individual natural ingredients full of nutrients
🌱We only use Palmyra Blossom nectar to sweeten them with - the most nutritious sweetner available
🌱We never use dairy, soya, lethicins, emulsifiers or palm oil
🌱We only use natural flavours
🌱We only use ethically and sustainably sourced raw cacao

Our process

🍫We make our bars from scratch, from our chosen individual ingredients, not couverture
🍫We do not roast our cacao so we can retain its nutrients
🍫We stone grind our raw cacao nibs together with our chosen ingredients for many hours

🍫Like chocolate however, our bars are tempered giving shine and a snap

Our flavours

🌏Our flavours are unique as they are inspired by travel, each one with its own story

Our Awards

🏆We have many accolades from The Nourish Awards for the taste, quality and health benefits of our ingredients

Have you tried them yet?

For more information see

www.merakicacao.com/shop

19/01/2026

Recipe of the week

Minimal ingredients, whole food cookies

These delicious chewy cookies only contain whole foods and are free from oil, refined sugar, dairy, eggs and gluten.

We used a recipe from Deliciously Ella for our inspiration.

Made with ground almonds, medjool dates, chia seeds, sultanas and a splash of almond milk.

Shaped, baked in the oven then drizzled with one of our melted bars - we used Inca.

They are perfect for breakfast, after exercise or when you get an energy slump.

Recipe is on our website

www.merakicacao.com/blogs

Enjoy!

15/01/2026

We are very excited to attend the first Earth & Essence yoga and wellness festival at The Alnwick Garden.

Led by Debrah Dhugga and Christine Heslop the weekend will be a restorative wellness festival, showcasing the best of yoga and wellness in the North East!

Set within the beautiful setting of Alnwick Gardens, it's the perfect place to reset, recharge and rebalance through yoga, meditation, holistic workshops, breath work, sound healing and more:

Saturday February 7th 10 AM - 6 PM

Sunday February 8th 10 AM - 4 PM

Early bird tickets are available for the first 100 tickets

Find out more on The Alnwick Garden's website

www.alnwickgarden.com

We'll have lots of samples to try - looking to meeting you all there 😊

12/01/2026

Recipe of the week

Banana & Cacao whole food muffins

These muffins are very easy to make. Full of nutritious ingredients and absolutely delicious, these make a perfect snack.

We enjoyed them with a cup of tea 😊

Download the recipe here

https://www.merakicacao.com/banana-cacao-wholefood-muffins/

Tag us if you make them

08/01/2026

Welcoming January

With compassion, gentleness, intentions and self care..

Many of you (including us), want ways in which we can improve our health. Swapping unhealthy foods for healthier versions is a great start.

Edesia is our award winning healthier version of commercial hazelnut-chocolate spreads. With only three whole food ingredients, it is free from unhealthy vegetable fats, refined sugar, lecithins, milk powder etc.

The high percentage of roasted hazelnuts blended with raw cacao powder and Palmyra blossom nectar gives it a deep rich satisfying flavour. A little goes a long way!

We love it for breakfast on seeded sourdough toast with fresh fruit. Also good on porridge, in yoghurt, pancakes, rice cakes or just out of the jar!

Let us know if you've made the swap yet..

05/01/2026

Are you taking part in Veganuary this month or just looking to make healthier foods?

Here’s a perfect whole food and delicious snack!

Our cacao and cherry cookies are based on a recipe by Deliciously Ella. We used our Inca bar to make them and they’re yummy!

We enjoyed them with a cup of favourite coffee.

You can get the recipe here

https://www.merakicacao.com/cacao-cherry-wholefood-cookies/