Johnty Tatham – Founder of Lucid Chocolate

An exquisite chocolate bar designed to ease anxiety and induce calm. Crafted from rare cacao harvested by isolated tribes in Peru’s Amazon rainforest.

Johnty Tatham established Lucid Chocolatier in Wairarapa after the lockdown and is New Zealand’s youngest bean-to-bar chocolate maker. His 68 percent Port chocolate won first prize for flavoured bean-to-bar chocolate production while 72% Santiago de Sisa won for plain.

Early Life and Education

Johnty Tatham has long had an affinity for all things culinary. He studied cookery, bakery and chocolate before going on to work in fine dining establishments, patisserie shops and chocolateries.

As one of New Zealand’s youngest bean-to-bar chocolate makers, his business has won multiple awards for quality and integrity. Most notably at the 2023 NZ Chocolate Awards he won Supreme Winner for his 68% Port, in addition to 14 medals in various categories.

Johnty Chocolate offers high-quality chocolate made with Peruvian cacao using fair trade practices. Sustainability is of utmost importance for his business; Johnty sources beans from small group farms so as to guarantee product quality and maintain its good name.

Professional Career

Johnty brings an arts background into his approach to chocolate making, which can be seen through his approach. Additionally, his entire business runs off renewable energy and all packaging is recycled.

Last year, his hard work paid off when he took home the Supreme Award at the New Zealand Chocolate Awards with his Lucid Chocolatier 68% Port bar, making him New Zealand’s youngest bean-to-bar chocolatier.

Johnty creates his artisan chocolate on his family farm in Wairarapa using some of Peru’s best cacao. Their minimalist packaging promises an exciting chocolate experience, featuring internal messaging and spot UV logos on 350gsm Kraft boxes.

Achievement and Honors

At the NZ Chocolate Awards 2023, our Speculoos bonbon was awarded first place. Boasting exquisite texture and balanced flavours, our winning chocolate made with organic cacao beans from Peru truly dazzled judges with its sublime quality.

Johnty established Lucid Chocolatier in 2020 as a bean to bar manufacturer, meaning he oversees every stage of chocolate making from source sourcing to roasting, grinding and winnowing, tempering and finishing his creations – with an emphasis on ethical cacao procurement and sustainability.

His Port infused 68% dark chocolate won the NZ Chocolate Awards Supreme Winner title in 2022, outshone by 150 NZ chocolates from 31 producers and being highly commended by judges due to its outstanding aroma notes, flavour and complexity and flawless texture with exceptional length.

Personal Life

Lucidia chocolate has been specially crafted with non-psychoactive functional mushrooms to reduce anxiety and promote relaxation. Please enjoy in moderation; do not exceed the recommended dosage.

Johnty Tatham is the owner and founder of Lucid Chocolatier. As a bean to bar maker, Lucid oversees all steps involved in producing chocolate from sourcing cacao beans to roasting, grinding and winnowing, tempering and finally creating their finished product.

At Maranon Cacao Beans Ltd, they only source premium quality organic beans from Peru for their 68% Port chocolate, which was awarded as the Supreme Winner at the 2022 New Zealand Chocolate Awards and won in both Bean to Bar Flavoured category and Bean to Bar Flavored category at 2022 New Zealand Chocolate Awards. It was created by submerging nibs of Maranon cacao beans into 10-year-old Taylor’s Tawny Port from Australia for 10 days prior to making.

They use elegant, minimal packaging that immediately establishes this as not your everyday chocolate bar. Their boxes are printed on 350gsm kraft with plant-based inks for spot UV logos and foil detailing.

Net Worth

Johnty Tatham is an award-winning chocolatier and the founder of Lucid Chocolate, founded at 23. His goal was to craft ultra-specialized and micro batch craft chocolate using fine Peruvian cacao in ultra small batch production runs. Johnty draws heavily upon his creative background when approaching chocolate making process.

Tatham’s company is a bean to bar chocolate producer, meaning they handle every step in its creation from start to finish; from sourcing and roasting cacao beans, grinding and winnowing them down into paste, tempering it and finally producing chocolate bars themselves. This sets them apart from traditional chocolatiers who outsource this work to large factories.

His hard work paid off when his company won the supreme winner award at the 2023 New Zealand Chocolate Awards with their 68% port chocolate.