It began with a flight, a notebook, and a question that wouldn't leave me alone.
In April, I took my first ever trip to Africa a journey that had been years in the making, shaped by academic research into Kenya and its place in a rapidly changing continent. I had read the papers, studied the data, written the essays. But nothing quite prepares you for the moment a country reveals itself to you in person.
Kenya was extraordinary. Vibrant, progressive, ambitious a nation quietly rewriting its own story. And yet, standing in the chocolate aisle of a local supermarket, something stopped me.
The shelves were full of European brands. The same bars I could buy at home only here, they were priced three or four times higher. Out of reach for most locals. It felt like a missed opportunity on a grand scale.
I started thinking. Kenya's neighbours Uganda, Tanzania were producing genuinely exceptional chocolate. Rich, complex, deeply flavoured. And yet Kenya itself had no real cocoa farming industry to speak of. Meanwhile, across the continent, there was a growing movement: African nations reclaiming their agricultural heritage, building proper supply chains, investing in local manufacturing and processing.
The idea arrived quietly, the way the best ones do.
What if there was a premium chocolate brand truly premium rooted in African inspiration, but built to compete with the European names that had dominated these shelves for decades? Not an imitation. A rival not to the local brands but to other brands that had no mention of the fact that their chocolates came from Africa!
I started doing the calculations in my notebook. To build something real in Kenya a processing plant, land, partnerships with local cocoa farmers would require significant investment. Without an established cocoa industry in the country, the barriers were high. The vision was clear, but the path was longer than I'd hoped.
And so a decision took shape: Lady Jasper would begin in Europe. Prove the concept. Build the brand. Then take it home to Africa to Kenya where it always belonged.
A British brand, unapologetically African at its core. Premium without pretence. Inspired by a continent that deserves far more credit for what it produces and what it could become.
That afternoon, in a supermarket aisle in Nairobi, Lady Jasper was born.