Introduce yourself.
Saoró is an Irish company founded by myself (Shamanic Practitioner Vivienne Dempsey) and partner, Patrick Daly, offering premium, ethically sourced cacao. Rooted in sustainability, community, and heart-led leadership, we partner with local agricultural cooperatives in Sierra Leone and Peru to bring you ceremonial-grade cacao that nourishes both people and planet.
Saoró stands for fairness, regeneration and conscious consumption. We work with Peruvian cooperatives that support Indigenous producers, including the Machiguenga community. Our cacao is sourced ethically and transparently, with fair pay for farmers and a commitment to biodiversity and rainforest regeneration. Our commitment extends beyond cacao, with contributions to global conservation initiatives such as the International Tiger Project, alongside rainforest and cacao canopy regeneration.
Beyond supplying ceremonial cacao, The Saoró Experience was created to connect artists, healers, practitioners, and activists across Ireland. It is a platform for those on a healing path, whether through shamanism, energy work, cacao, or other spiritual and holistic traditions, to connect, collaborate, and uplift one another by sharing their creative work, upcoming events, and practitioner offerings.
What inspired you to join the natural health sector?
We were inspired to join the natural health sector as an act of responsibility. Saoró honour cacao’s Indigenous roots, protect its ecosystems, and offer it in a way that is ethical, reverent, and accessible. For us, natural health is inseparable from community wellbeing.
Where did you get the idea for your brand?
How the brand originated and came about is quite unique and special. In 2014 I had began my Shamanic journey to access deeper hidden parts of myself and I have since been on a path of growth and expansion in a myriad of miraculous ways. Shamanism enriched my life beyond measure, thanks to the sacred plants, including cacao having been very much a part of that journey. Cacao opened my heart and mind and freed my soul, and so it became almost a responsibility to share it with others. Today, it is very much Saoro’s mission to source sustainable, regenerative Cacao which supports the producers with a fair price whilst also being affordable to our community in Ireland and beyond.
What makes your brand unique?
Saoró being rooted in shamanism is pretty unique, with the spirit of the brand being guided in this light, and a genuine desire to share cacao as a sacred medicine rather than a commodity. Our ethos is activist-led. Profits are reinvested into community. We prioritise meaningful support for both our Irish community and our Indigenous producer partners, while also placing great care on flavour and quality, working closely with the talented chocolatier Lisi Shattell to develop a cacao that tastes exceptional (not to be biased!). When making decisions, we follow what feels right, ethical, and necessary, supporting cacao canopy regeneration and choosing revolution over convenience in how business is done.
What are your company’s core values?
- Sustainability. We ensure that our Cacao makes a positive net impact on the planet, most especially the rainforests, wildlife, indigenous communities and our own customers.
- Discernment. Choosing the right partners who align with our values and vision.
- Collaboration over competition. Supporting others in the wellness space builds community, together we thrive!
- Accessibility. Providing medicinal grade Cacao at the most affordable price.
How do you support your community?
Community and collaboration are the foundation ideals of Saoró as we believe these are fun- damental to leading a purposeful and healed life. Saoró supports community by
- actively uplifting activism, art, and poetry, while showcasing and promoting holistic and heart-led events across Ireland.
- hosting an online directory of healing practitioners, making it easier for people to find support and for practitioners to be seen.
- guiding retreat-style training weekends that teach the art of cacao facilitation with deep reverence for the medicine and its origins.
To support Saoró is to support this Irish community of practitioners and artists, activist movements, indigenous producers and Rainforest Canopy Regeneration.
Whether you’re an artist, a healer, a lover of cacao and other plant medicines, or a heart-led individual who resonates with our ethos, you are so welcome to join the Saoró Experience Community. Share your events, showcase your art, get listed in our practitioners directory, and come join in on our very unserious community. All our offerings are completely free (no gate- keeping here) because we believe in access, visibility, and supporting each other’s magic.
What has been the most rewarding part of your brands journey?
The friends we’ve made and the partnerships we’ve built on this journey. We are blessed that our Cacao has helped us build a wonderful community. We still get a kick out of how loved and well received it is, the feedback makes all the effort worth it! We receive so many heartening stories about how this beautiful heart medicine has changed people’s lives and created wonderful spaces for healing, ceremony and celebration throughout Ireland.
What in your opinion makes Irish brands unique?
I think it’s a couple of things. Maybe the biggest thing is our desire to create something meaningful rather than just marketable. It’s also our closeness to the land and nature. Here in Ireland we have a rich history of folk healing, plant medicine, energy work and spiritual practices that were traditionally passed down through families and seanchai and so I believe this type of intuitive healing shows up in Irish brands where we are guided by a sense of stewardship over ownership. It’s really special to see Irish brands uplifting other Irish brands too, you see it happen a lot and it’s great because it’s true, there’s space for us all.
What is your favourite product from your brand?
That’s like being asked which is your favourite child! Each origin has its own unique Cacao spirit and creative process. Our beautiful Sierra Leone Barista Cacao is pure comfort, the ultimate hug in a mug. It’s really earthy and grounding, you can feel the rhythms of Africa and people do love to dance with it. In beauty I walk is a real heart opener and has a powerful energy in Ceremony. She is zesty and full of bursts of flavour and colour, like a Hummingbird! How could I choose?
Tell us about something that has shaped your brand?
Sitting with plant medicines as healers and teachers has shaped our brand. We believe these plant teachers have an important role in our self realisation, healing and evolution. Spending time with indigenous peoples of Peru the Machiguenga, Q’ero and Shipibo and their ways of reciprocity and community. How generously they share their wisdom and their medicine, have really inspired me. They are guardians rather than gatekeepers. We are privileged to share this sacred cacao medicine and are always conscious of the responsibility that comes with that, and lead from the heart.
What do you hope to accomplish in the future?
To introduce more people to the joy and health benefits of Cacao! People in the holistic space have been aware of the magic of cacao for years. We now want to create a Cacao revolution, where people swap their daily coffee for a delicious and nutritious cup of Cacao energy. This is why we created our Barista Cacao which is incredibly user friendly and of course gorgeous, for a daily on the go Cacao! As we believe true societal change will come through grass roots community movements, we will continue to promote collaboration and coming together, social activism and conscious living. And have a bit of craic along the way!
