Group Lead, Ved Krishna
Hello, hello! What happens when a priest and an art director get together and start their own company? They create a sustainable and ethical gourmet chocolate company that’s taking the world of cocoa lovers by a storm! Join Ved Krishna as he unravels the riveting journeys of chocolate connoisseu
0:00 – Introduction to Sustainable Chocolate Packaging
Jeanyves Vernaz and Norm make premium sustainable chocolate in Oregon. They joined to talk about packaging, and it turns out chocolate is one of the harder things to package sustainably because moisture control matters so much and conventional solutions rely heavily on plastic.
10:00 – The Journey to Purpose-Driven Chocolate
Jeanyves came to chocolate through graphic design and real estate, not through a food science background. He talks about the pivot and how building a B Corp from the start shaped everything about how the company approaches sourcing, packaging, and suppliers.
20:00 – Cellophane as a Sustainable Alternative to Plastic Wrap
Cellophane, made from wood pulp, is the packaging solution they landed on. Jeanyves explains why it performs better than clear plastic wrap in several ways that matter, including how it looks on shelf and how it eventually breaks down.
31:00 – The Transition from Plastic to Compostable Packaging in Practice
Moving from plastic to compostable packaging is never seamless. Jeanyves walks through the transition, including the supplier conversations, how they communicated the change to customers, and what the practical day-to-day challenges looked like.
41:00 – Moisture Barriers and the Technical Challenge for Chocolate
Chocolate needs moisture protection. Without it, the quality deteriorates fast. Jeanyves and Norm explain what moisture barrier performance they need from their packaging and why finding a compostable material that delivers it is harder than it sounds.
51:00 – When Catering Companies Start Asking for Sustainable Cutlery
A catering client pushed them to think harder about sustainable cutlery after praising the chocolate packaging. Jeanyves talks about what that conversation revealed about where business clients are heading on sustainability, and what it means for suppliers like them.
62:00 – Competing on Sustainability Without Competing on Price
Sustainable packaging costs more, and premium chocolate brands have to decide whether to absorb that or pass it on. Jeanyves explains how they think about that cost pressure and how they maintain quality without pricing themselves out of the market they’re in.
72:00 – Passion Over Product — What Investors Actually Fund
The investor who backed their company said directly that he was betting on the founders’ passion, not the product. Jeanyves talks about what that moment meant and what it says about the kind of investor worth looking for when you’re building something purpose-driven.
Let’s come together!
