Meet Jose, the Founder of Mayoy
In December, the Tide marketing team ran a festive campaign! A Christmas prize draw for a chance to win £5,000 to help a small business owner grow their company. Today we’re thrilled to introduce you to the winner of our competition!
Meet our competition winner Jose, the Founder of Mayoy! Great to chat to you Jose, can you tell us about your business?
We’re the first Venezuela origin bean-to-bar chocolate makers based in the UK. We started our family business in 2019, after leaving Venezuela and settling in London.
Venezuela is known to have one of the rarest and finest cacao (also known as cocoa) varieties in the world. Every region has its particular characteristics, flavours and aromas. Growing up in Venezuela, close to the cacao farms, we were born with a passion for chocolate in our hearts.
Our mission is to create the best chocolate with the finest quality, direct trade Venezuelan cacao. We’re committed to guaranteeing our cacao’s quality, its origins, and that everyone involved benefits from our mission. This includes giving back to the farmers, rebuilding the local community and restoring the land.
We’re proud to share our cacao with the world!
Growing up in Venezuela, close to the cacao farms, we were born with a passion for chocolate in our hearts.
How did your business grow since you launched?
Alongside our online shop, you can find us in markets – we’re in Greenwich Market and Cutty Sark Market in March. Our vision is to open a bean-to-bar chocolate shop, where you can buy our products, enjoy a hot chocolate, and learn more about the origin of our cacao beans and the chocolate-making process. We would also like to be stocked in bigger stores to encourage more people to choose bean-to-bar products.
Our purpose is to revolutionise the chocolate industry so that fair trade becomes the norm.
What do you love the most about running your company?
We love making chocolate and seeing people smile when they try it! Alongside that, our purpose is to revolutionise the chocolate industry (known for exploiting workers and land), so that fair trade becomes the norm. We love talking directly to people and explaining why it’s important to choose bean-to-bar.
You’ve shared your mission and goals for your business with us. Can you tell us more about your products?
We offer Venezuela origin chocolate bars and a range of cacao products. Everything we make is deliciously guilt and nasties-free and made with love in our London choco-lab.
Our products are free from preservatives, sweeteners, colourings, additives, artificial fertilisers and pesticides. They’re suitable for vegans and also free from gluten, lactose, palm oil and GMO.
Why did you decide to choose Tide to do your banking?
We needed a banking solution that supports small businesses like ours! And Tide is the perfect fit for us.
What’s your favourite Tide feature?
The accounting integration helps us see our finances in a simple and clear way.
We were talking about your vision for Mayoy. What’s the biggest challenge for your business at the moment?
To have the right mentoring and business strategy/planning mindset to give Mayoy that extra push to expand – and time to do it all!
Before you go, what’s one tip you would give to people who want to start their own business?
Two things:
- Believe in yourself and your project, even when people tell you otherwise
- Failings and mistakes are part of the process, they make you wiser and stronger – learn from them and keep going
