We recently connected with Sara Ratza and have shared our conversation below.

Alright, Sara thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What’s something crazy on unexpected that’s happened to you or your business

On Valentine’s Day of 2024, my storefront was open and busy with customers. One customer had her back against the door as we were finishing a conversation and was seconds away to leaving. All of the sudden, a thud hit my wall next to me and a car was at my front door. A vehicle literally turned off of the road and hit my storefront, inches away from my glass front door and customer. Their was a moment when I saw the car at my wall and was waiting for it to come through my building. Thankfully it did not. It had all happened in slow motion but so fast. I was not mentally prepared to deal with insurance and an open wall to end my day of love. We were all quite in a state of disbelief while standing at my window (filming), watching the woman attempt to back up as nobody would let her back out into traffic. Both her car and our building looked untouched and had very minimal damage, almost like we had angels watching over us. The woman did not get out of her car but I did make sure she was okay. She seemed more embarrassed than anything. I still do not know what happened or how it happened. To make matters worse, just a few hours later that day, I was rear-ended in a new (to me) car that I had just purchased three weeks earlier. Again, with very minimal damage and after a car hitting my wall, I let the guy go. I definitely had to question what it all meant and just laugh it off. I still can’t believe that day happened. It was a wild Valentine’s Day.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

With a degree in studio art, doing creative work has always been my passion. In school I studied graphic design and metalsmithing which really set me up for all of my marketing and working with my hands. My culinary love started at home with my mom being a baker and my dad being the cook. My great-grandmother owned a truck-stop that served home cooked meals with recipes being passed down with each generation. In college I began refining my tasting notes through my love for craft beer and coffee. After having my son and ending a career as an art teacher, I simultaneously started to deep dive into food as medicine. I began to take recipes and make delicious healthier versions of them. In 2013, one of my best friends pulled me in to work with her making craft coffee and build her food menu at her organic coffee shop. This was when I discovered how much I enjoyed working with chocolate and started questioning where chocolate came from. I was intrigued to find that cacao and coffee were so similar. I purchased my first bag of single-origin beans and began roasting and hand-grinding out of my home kitchen. I started making small bars of “crunchy” chocolate and by 2015, I was selling them at small markets. At the same time I was working at the coffee shop, I was studying health and nutrition. I began my first herbal formulating with simple ingredients and spices such as lavender, turmeric, and moringa while making them taste delicious. My goal was to make the highest quality and purest chocolate I could create.

 In 2018, I became a Holistic Health Practitioner studying food as medicine and began herb school at Traditions School of Herbal Studies in St. Petersburg, Florida. I officially formed my business moving from my home as cottage food to sharing a commercial kitchen as a manufacturer. In 2019, my commercial kitchen had decided to close in early 2020 and I was pressured to open my own brick-and-mortar to keep my business alive right as we were put on lockdown for Covid. I opened my factory storefront in August of 2020 and we still continue to evolve. I won two gold medals in the International Chocolate Salon for “Best Dark Chocolate Bar” and “Best Flavored Chocolate Bar” in 2022. I wrote my first book “Drinking Chocolate: Ancient Traditions for Modern Healing” in 2022. I completed herbal school as a Clinical Western Herbalist in 2023 after a year of interning in our weekly herbal clinic. I received 2nd place in the Herbal Products Contest at the International Herbal Symposium in 2023 for our “JujuBeet”. I continue to strive to make amazing high quality chocolate that honors the Maya culture and the farmers who provide us with cacao. I take pride in my herbal knowledge and to make the best herbal formulated bars, drinking chocolates, and teas. My next project is to complete my next book which will be on “treats” by the end of 2024.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

When I started my business, I knew that it was something I wanted to pursue long term. At the same time, I was juggling working early mornings at the coffee shop and staying home with my son and homeschooling. It was important to me to be able to balance the building of my business and being mom. My philosophy was “slow and steady wins the race” and to create a really solid foundation. My initial costs were very low since I had no overhead since I was cottage food. I would put the money aside from the markets and eventually had enough to buy my first piece of machinery that allowed me to scale up. I continued to save and eventually worked bigger markets and festivals. The hardest part financially was when I decided it was time for my own brick and mortar. I had already established clientele and a strong local support system. I decided to have my own “Go Fund Me” on my personal website which helped the financial strain of the build out, mainly plumbing. I started with the bare minimum in our factory, mainly 3 tables and one machine. As we would make revenue, I’d invest in another table, or another grinder. I still have the philosophy of slow and steady wins the race and continue to grow slowly in a pace that allows me to still be mom.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

I have made a commitment to creating healing chocolate. A large part of what I do is education and how cacao and plant medicine can help people. Having integrity and creating lasting relationships with customers is a priority to me. Some of my favorite people and best friends I have met through my storefront and business connections. Being kind to all people goes a long way. I also really love to make people feel special, so adding my touch of dried flowers on gift boxes or when we ship packages makes me happy.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.RatzaChocolate.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/ratzachocolate_tarponsprings
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/ratzachocolate

Image Credits
Adam Smith