Meet Dr Sarah Lantz, the inspiring visionary behind Temptress Apothecary, where chocolate isn't just a confection; it's a conscious choice.
Over her career, she has worn many hats. She is a clinical nutritionist, a researcher, and a domestic violence activist. She even owned and managed brands such as Buchi and Gutsy before she moved on to her latest brainchild, Temptress Apothecary. We are excited to share her wisdom and knowledge with you all.
Sarah’s journey began ten years ago when she was doing her PhD and postdoc. She got the opportunity to work with the Environmental Working Group (EWG) in the US, the creators of the Dirty Dozen and Clean 15 lists. During their collaboration, they worked on an amazing research project together, which inspired the book that she co-authored with Tabitha McIntosh: One Bite At A Time: Reduce Toxic Exposure and Eat the World You Want. The project involved slicing and dicing 20 umbilical cords from newborn babies.
“What we found in their blood and umbilical cords was a whole lot of waste products. We found plastics, pesticides, insecticides, fungicides, etc. We also found phthalates (used to make plastics more durable), Scotchgard, as well as lead and mercury. And these were in newborn babies that have never taken a breath in the world. These harmful chemicals and waste products were crossing the blood-brain barrier and going into newborn babies.”
One Bite At A Time also covers toxic exposure and what we all have in our bodies, stemming from Sarah’s original research with EWG. She asks the question: how do we reduce that toxic exposure? What she found was that we must not only try to reduce chemicals in our bodies but also, build body resilience. To do this, we need to improve our gut health with fermented foods, eat locally sourced, sustainably grown food and eat food that's organic.
Sarah’s latest project is, of course, Temptress Apothecary, which has been running for five years. At Temptress they make chocolate and work with whole foods and herbs. They’re always working to create products that are interesting and new.
“Chocolate. I'm about the chocolate. Everything that Temptress does. I used to own Buchi Kombucha and sold that, and then I managed, Gutsy fermentory as well.”
Temptress Apothecary was born out of the desire to create natural and potent botanical blends that are symbiotic with nature and that can be used in everyday ritual, reverence and pleasure in the home. Their artisan formulas, utilise ancient healing herbs and plants that can be applied and have been studied. Their brews and blends draw on the insights of the ancient schools of Ayurveda, Chinese Traditional Medicine, and Western Herbalism.
Along her chocolate-making journey, she realised that producing even a small amount of cacao in Australia was challenging. They observed that farmers in Peru, South America, and Africa often relied on slave labour. Consequently, the cost of cacao was increasing as farmers began demanding fair compensation for their work. Temptress currently source their cacao from a farm in Peru and one in Bali because it's much closer. They produce beautiful, wild, cowbell bean cacao.
“The whole family ferment everything on the farm. We use the packaging that we produce for them. They hand grind all of the cacao beans themselves.”
They use pure certified organic Criollo bean (heirloom) Cacao which has been grown, harvested, fermented and sun-dried with great care by small communities in Peru. Temptress also goes the extra mile by paying for their organic certification.
Sarah Lantz’s colourful journey is like a tapestry woven with threads of passion, innovation, and genuine care. From her early days of research to her current venture with Temptress Apothecary, she’s been on a mission not just to make delicious chocolate, but to do it right – making sure it’s good for your body and the planet.
As we indulge in delicious Temptress Apothecary chocolate, we’re not just treating ourselves; we’re joining Sarah in her quest for a better world, one bite at a time.
