Sustainable chocolatier ‘over the moon’ about being NEXTY finalist

Who doesn’t love a midday chocolate snack? Depending on the product, maybe someone who’s invested in their health, people and the environment. After all, a confection filled with corn syrup and GMOs and made via questionable production practices might have hit the mark in childhood, but these days tastes more of guilt and visits to the doctor.

Enter Candid, the up-and-coming chocolate brand that New Hope Network editors chose as one of four finalists for the Natural Products Expo West NEXTY Awards in 2025. The company’s Mint Chocolate Crunch Noons snack, featuring coconut sugar–sweetened dark chocolate layered on quinoa crispies, gets the spotlight here. But Candid, which exhibited in Newtopia Now’s Regenerate neighborhood, also landed the finalist spot due to its total focus on ethical and sustainable sourcing.

This accolade means a lot to Chris Kajander, founder and CEO of Candid, who says he was “over the moon” when a New Hope Network editor told him he was a finalist. “It is a huge honor.”

Chris Kajander, founder and CEO of Candid. Credit: Sarah N. Moore

Why chocolate?

Kajander’s entry into sustainable chocolate didn’t come by accident. For starters, he has worked in CPG for 15 years. His interest in the sustainability side grew as he understood the complexity of the food system.

“I got to know how food moves around and how things work, and I just felt like I could add to, and improve, certain things in the industry,” he says.

Related:Expo West Climate Day keynote: Lessons from indigenous food systems

Chocolate stood out to Kajander for a couple of reasons. The first ties to his childhood. “My mom loved chocolate,” he recalls. “She would always steal my Halloween candy, the chocolate.” For Kajander, that translated to his own love of chocolate. “There’s nothing like chocolate, which is why it’s one of the only flavors that flavor houses have not been able to fully replicate,” he says.

Chocolate’s profile and texture all depends on the growing process, the soil, the roasting and the fermentation. “It’s really magic,” Kajander says.

The second reason Kajander stepped into the world of chocolate arrived through happenstance. When he left his previous job, a contact put him in touch with Nahua, a supply chain company in Costa Rica that works with small farming communities.

“The light bulb went off,” Kajander says. “I thought, wow, this is like a dream come true.” That’s because he saw the opportunity to work in chocolate and “try to do something better from an environmental standpoint and from an ethical sourcing standpoint. I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

Historically, chocolate has its own checkered past—and, in many cases, present. There are problems around lack of transparency in the supply chain, as well as child labor and unnecessary deforestation. But chocolate production does not have to be mired in ethical and environmental tradeoffs, and Kajander created Candid to set new standards and examples for the industry and for consumers. “We keep our sourcing very transparent,” he says.

Related:Unboxed: 10 sweet snacks that offer novelty and nutrition

Candid gets its chocolate through farmers in Costa Rica and South America—and makes that information very accessible. “The more companies that buy into this model of transparency, sourcing ethically, sourcing sustainably, the more that helps build a larger base in the supply chain and helps raise awareness with consumers,” Kajander says.

Better for planet and people

In tandem with that is the packaging Kajander uses for all Candid products: compostable, not plastic, bags. Plastic is “clogging up our waterways,” he says. “It’s filling up our landfills, it’s breaking down in our oceans and it’s ending up inside of us. There are definitely other packaging options out there for a lot of products.” Even though compostable packaging costs more, Kajander expects more of Candid’s peers to follow suit at some point. “There are a lot of options that I hope companies will start to switch over to,” he says. “Because right now, if you walk through the grocery store, it’s just plastic, plastic everywhere.”

Along the way, Candid is all about crafting delicious, clean chocolate snacks. There are no fillers, dyes or gluten; every product qualifies as vegan, and many contain organic ingredients.

“How I approach making these products is keeping it as simple and natural as possible, because that’s how I like to eat. It’s very much a reflection of my own values,” Kajander says.

NEXTY nomination and next steps

In terms of growth, Candid is well on its way. Kajander now works with chocolate farmers not just in Costa Rica, but also in Peru and Ecuador. Plus, he’s on the verge of closing a $500,000 seed round. Now, he’s sealing deals with more retailers that should come to fruition early next year. And reveling in Candid’s NEXTY nomination.

“I think there’s a reason we got nominated for a NEXTY, and that’s because everybody who came by and tried our products loved them universally,” he says. “I got so much good feedback at Newtopia Now on the flavor and the format and just, like, how fun it was. And so I hope that encourages people out there to give us a try.”

Giving something a try is exactly what Kajander did with Newtopia Now. At first, he wasn’t sure whether to attend. Because 2024 marked the event’s inaugural year, Kajander and others he talked with about the show weren’t quite sure what to expect. But he took a chance—and it paid off.

“Newtopia Now was fantastic,” Kajander says. “I decided I wanted to see how this goes, and it was great. It was the best show that I’ve participated in thus far.” He especially appreciated the show’s smaller size. “It didn’t feel overly crowded,” Kajander says. “I felt like I was able to have meaningful conversations with buyers and with other folks in the industry, as opposed to feeling like you’re in a crazy carnival, like some of the other trade shows can feel.”

And yes, Kajander already has signed up to exhibit at Newtopia Now 2025.