For Mark Ocampo and Kelly Go, chocolate was always more than just a sweet treat. Their love for food, travel, and culinary experiences took them around the world—but it wasn’t until they stumbled upon Filipino cacao in a U.S. chocolate shop that they realized the huge opportunity waiting back home.
“At that time in 2010, wala pa kaming nakitang Filipino chocolate brands. And we said like, ‘Meron palang cacao sa Pilipinas, so why isn’t there a well-known chocolate brand from there?’” Ocampo recalls.
That simple question sparked an idea that would eventually turn into Auro Chocolates, a brand now making waves in the global chocolate industry.
From Chicago to the World’s Best Chocolate Schools
Ocampo and Go met while studying at the University of Chicago, but their paths took them in different directions—Ocampo worked in advertising and tech in New York, while Go trained at Le Cordon Bleu in Paris.
Despite their different careers, they shared a common dream: to bring world-class Filipino chocolate to life.
“We both wanted to come home. We wanted to be in the Philippines and contribute something valuable, something in line with our shared passions,” Ocampo says.
Determined to create a truly world-class product, they enrolled at ZDS in Germany, one of Europe’s top chocolate schools, to learn everything about industrial chocolate production.
“We believe that we couldn’t create a world-class chocolate brand without learning from the masters,” Ocampo explains.
Bringing Filipino Cacao to the Global Stage
Armed with knowledge from the best chocolate makers in Switzerland and Germany, they returned to the Philippines in 2015 and immersed themselves in cacao farming and sourcing.
Instead of just making chocolate, they focused on building relationships with local farmers, ensuring sustainable and high-quality cacao production.
Today, Auro Chocolates has won multiple international awards and is now recognized as one of the best bean-to-bar chocolate brands in the world.
From a chance encounter in a U.S. chocolate shop to global recognition, Ocampo and Go’s journey proves that turning passion into business can lead to something truly extraordinary.
This article includes quotes from an interview originally published by Esquire Philippines, authored by Henry Ong.
