Mott Green, the man behind the Grenada Chocolate company tragically died in an accident this month. Kate and I found out a few days later, due to social media all news (good & bad) travels fast.
We first met Mott at a trade fair in London about four years ago. At this point we had already booked our tickets to Grenada and had spoken to him on the phone but never in person. Mott is a New Yorker who fell in love with the Caribbean life of Grenada.
The first thing I noticed about Mott was the fact he wore a old T-shirt with holes in, jeans and bare feet to a trade fair where all men were suited and booted. I loved the fact he was just being himself and didn't seem intimidated by the formality of business. He was excited that Kate and I were coming over and helped us find a place to stay, this ended up being one of the Cocoa farms.
In 2010 Kate and I embarked on a great adventure to Grenada. We have sold the bars in the shop since 2004 and wanted to see the factory and the plantations. Mott was the first person in the world to attempt to create a chocolate factory in a country where Cocoa is grown. Many of the machines are hand built as chocolate is not made on such a small scale. Not only did it actually work but since then many other countries are taking his idea across the world. The benefit of the tree to bar chocolate bars are revoultionary and can make a huge difference to countries in poverty. In Cocoa we take a great interest in these small tree to bar chocolate companies as we know how important the difference is.
Here is Mott with the plantaion workers, who are all part of the Grenada Chocolate Co-op. Mott kindly showed us the plantations on the island and each room of the Chocolate factory, which he actually lived in! He really did live and breath chocolate it was his first and last love.
Another passion of Motts was sailing, here he is with his much loved boat for a daily ride. I was lucky enough to sail with Mott to some of the smaller islands off the land. His latest venture was using wind power to sail chocolate from one country to another.
In 2011 Mott very kindly came all the way to Cocoa, here in Sheffield to see Kate and I in the shop. Our regular customer Ian Smith took some great snaps of us and Mott in the shop.
This really meant a lot to us and it was great to see him again.We last saw him in 2012 when he was in London for a small premiere of a documentry Nothing Like Chocolate. This film really captured the great work Mott had done and his passion for everything to do with Chocolate but mainly the people.
Mott invited us back to a small party at Chantel and James's house, the owners of Rococo Chocoates. We were due to see him again this year in London but instead there will be a tribute for him.
Although we had only met him recently, we will miss him greatly. He is a truely spectacular man and we hope the great work he has done will continue without him but with him in mind.
