Black Jaguar
British Columbia, Canada
Some businesses begin with a business plan; Black Jaguar Chocolate began with a journey. In 2017, Scott Patterson and Emilie Lacerte were working on an agroforestry documentary in the El Beni region of the Bolivian Amazon. Staying with a local family who had spent years restoring the forest by planting thousands of food-producing trees, they helped plant young cacao seedlings and tasted fresh cacao fruit for the first time. What began as curiosity quickly became a fascination with one of the world's most remarkable foods.
Key Info
Handcrafted bean-to-bar chocolate made in small batches on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.
Fine-flavor cacao is sourced directly through long-term relationships with small-scale producers across Latin America.
Origins include Nicaragua, Bolivia, Colombia and expanding into Peru.
Every bar is crafted entirely in-house, from sorting, roasting and stone grinding through tempering, molding and hand wrapping.
Many recipes feature locally wild-harvested Canadian ingredients, including berries, botanicals, mushrooms and seaweeds.
Canadian Chocolate Makers
Black Jaguar Chocolate reflects the spirit of the wild landscapes the founders experienced throughout South and Central America, where cacao still grows in rich tropical ecosystems. It also honors Ometepe Island and the enduring cultural significance of the jaguar throughout Indigenous mythology across Mesoamerica. Powerful, elusive and deeply connected to the forest, the black jaguar became the perfect symbol for a chocolate company rooted in adventure, nature and respect for ancient traditions.
After living full-time in Nicaragua and making chocolate there, Scott and Emilie returned to Canada with a vision. They recognized an opportunity to introduce exceptional bean-to-bar chocolate to Western Canada while continuing the relationships they had built with cacao producers throughout Latin America. Today, Black Jaguar Chocolate is handcrafted on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, where every bar is made in small batches. From sorting and roasting the beans to stone grinding, tempering and hand wrapping, every step is completed in-house with meticulous attention to detail.
Direct Trade Matters
Rather than purchasing beans through commodity channels, they make a point of travelling to visit the farmers they work with. Building direct relationships based on integrity, honesty, loyalty and mutual respect allows them to understand the land, the harvest and the people behind the bean. Many of the cacao origins they source today come from places they have personally lived in or travelled through, creating a personal connection between maker and origin.
Inspired by the forests, coastline and mountains surrounding Vancouver Island, Scott and Emilie incorporate locally wild-harvested ingredients into many of their bars. Through collaborations with wild food company Forest for Dinner and a local marine biologist, they work with ingredients including wild berries, mushrooms, botanicals and sustainably harvested seaweed, creating flavor combinations that reflect Canada's natural landscapes while using exceptional cacao.
Their work has been recognized with numerous awards, including Winning Bean in Show at the Northwest Chocolate Festival for their Wild Forest Sea Salt bar, a Gold Award for their White Macambo Jaguar bar, and being chosen by Chocolate Squirrel as one of Canada's outstanding chocolate makers. Their bars have also received medals at both the International Chocolate Awards Americas and World competitions.
A little history about Black Jaguar Chocolate’s journey
For Scott and Emilie, chocolate is far more than a craft. It is a way of preserving biodiversity, supporting heirloom cacao, celebrating the people who grow it and sharing the wild places that first inspired their journey—one carefully crafted bar at a time.