Meet the Chattanooga Chocolatier Behind Cocoa Asante

Ella Livingston never intended to become a chocolatier. But one unforgettable bite of chocolate while traveling in Tokyo sparked a passion that led to the creation of Cocoa Asante, her Chattanooga-based artisan chocolate company. Today, she’s creating stunning confections inspired by her Ghanaian heritage, while supporting cacao-growing communities with ethical sourcing practices. We caught up with Ella to talk chocolate, Chattanooga favorites, entrepreneurship, and owning your “why.”

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Where are you from originally, and how long have you been based in the Chattanooga area?

I was born in Ghana, and my family immigrated to the United States when I was three. So I grew up here in the States, but Ghana never left me. It is woven into who I am. Chattanooga is where I planted roots and where Cocoa Asante was born in 2018, and it has become home in every sense of the word.

Tell us about your journey to becoming a chocolatier. Were you always fond of creating in the kitchen, or was that a passion you discovered later in life?

Chocolate was never the plan. It came later in life and was a complete surprise. The turning point came in 2013, when I was studying abroad in Tokyo. I walked into this beautiful little chocolate shop and tasted a piece of Nama chocolate served in a gold box with a tiny fork, and something just clicked.

You know that moment in a movie where the camera zooms in on someone’s eyes, and they light up? That was me. I realized chocolate could carry culture and craft and reverence, and that my own family had been growing the origin ingredient for generations without anyone celebrating it.

I started experimenting in my home kitchen in 2018, teaching myself through YouTube, food blogs, and a whole lot of trial and error. 

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Cocoa Asante’s tagline is “artisan chocolate almost too pretty to eat.” What inspires the visual element of your chocolates? 

It goes right back to that shop in Tokyo. The chocolate was presented like a piece of art, with so much intention and reverence, and I wanted to recreate that feeling of “wait, this is too beautiful to eat” (and then you eat it anyway, because it is too good not to).

Every piece we make is a small canvas. So much of the inspiration comes straight from Ghana, from the colors, the patterns, and the Adinkra symbols that carry real meaning in our culture. When someone opens one of our boxes, I want them to pause. That pause is where the story starts, and beauty is how we invite people in before they ever taste a thing.

We hate to ask you to play favorites, but … we’re going to. What’s your personal favorite Cocoa Asante chocolate?

It changes with my mood and the season. Right now, it is our Mangonada Bonbons [pictured below]. It is bright and fruity and just a little tart, with a hint of spice from the chili peppers. I never knew fruit and chocolate could go together so beautifully. It is an exceptional flavor that truly dances in your mouth. It is not just a bite; it is an experience.

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What are your favorite spots to eat and explore around Chattanooga? 

I gravitate toward restaurants that layer their flavors, so the food is never one-dimensional, and I love anything made from scratch. Being from Ghana, that is exactly how food was made at home, so it makes sense that it is what I look for when I dine out. A few of my favorites are Neutral Ground (I am so excited for Chef Kenyatta’s new spot opening this fall), Calliope, and Niedlov’s.

Chattanooga is the Scenic City for a reason, so any exploring you do should get you outdoors. If you are not sure where to start, check out Outdoor Chattanooga. They host group excursions for everything from kayaking to whitewater rafting to biking and so much more. And if the outdoors is not your thing, the Coolidge Park and North Shore area is always a good time. 

Can you share the name of one woman in Chattanooga’s maker community who inspires you, and tell us why?

Briana Garza. If you have ever met her, you know exactly why I am naming her. Briana is the founder of Chatt Taste Food Tours and, beyond that, a curator of community, spaces, and events. I deeply admire who she is and what she continues to build.

When you’re not making beautiful chocolates and running your business, where can we find you?

You can find me spending time with my family, reading, or enjoying a well-deserved nap.

What advice would you offer to artisans and makers who aspire to build a business? 

Know your “why,” and be able to say it out loud to your team, your community, and your customers. That “why” is what will carry you through the hard seasons, and there will be hard seasons.

My other piece of advice is to prepare while you wait. My big moment came in 2023 when a review of our chocolates went viral almost overnight, but I had spent five years quietly getting ready for it. When the door finally opened, I was ready to walk through it.

So, do the unglamorous work now. Do it intentionally, do it sustainably, and do it with excellence, and trust that your moment will come.

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What are your personal favorite sources for inspiration?

I love The Science of Scaling by Dr. Benjamin Hardy, and honestly, anything he has written. How I Built This is a favorite podcast of mine. But the Bible is my greatest source of encouragement and inspiration, hands down.

And when it comes to cities, Kumasi in Ghana, Tokyo in Japan, and Washington, DC are my favorite places to rest, rejuvenate, and get re-inspired. 

What’s next for you and for Cocoa Asante? Any lofty goals or exciting projects you can tease? 

We recently closed a $1.5 million seed raise, which is a huge milestone for us. But more than the number, it’s what that funding makes possible … The big vision I am chasing is vertical integration: utilizing cacao from roots in Ghana (including my own family’s farm), producing semi-finished chocolate at the origin, and then finishing every product right here in the US. This allows us to retain more value in the hands of the farmers and communities who grow the cacao.

Our goal is to scale Cocoa Asante into a nationally recognized brand while staying true to why we started — and to get our chocolate into the hands of a whole lot more people along the way. 

And finally, we always ask: What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

For years, I asked myself the same question. ”I know God can, but will He for me?”

Everything that has happened over the last few years has answered that for me, without a doubt. And it left me with the best advice I carry to this day: “God can, and God will. Why? Because He already has.”

I call those words to mind just about every single day. When I think about my goals and the impact I want Cocoa Asante to have, it can honestly get scary. And what is even scarier than setting ambitious goals is actually making the decisions it takes to bring them to life. So anytime I feel even an inkling of doubt, I remember, “God can, and God will. Why? Because He already has.” And it lets me keep moving forward in bold and expectant faith.

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