Lars Gierveld (1981, Winterswijk) is a television maker and entrepreneur with master degrees and background in both business (studies) and journalism. The idea for Kumasi arose while making a documentary about the cocoa industry for RTL/Videoland: ‘Made possible’ (52 min).
Founder Lars Gierveld saw that cocoa farmers in Ivory Coast and Ghana often live in poverty and, together with a few farmers he followed, devised a special plan to ’think outside the bean’. They ended up in a crazy adventure of juice, sweat and tears. In 2021 Kumasi was founded, introducing cocoa fruit to the Dutch market in soft drinks. Started experimenting with just a small group of farmers during the documentary, Kumasi now works with hundreds of cocoa farmers who earn extra income from their harvest.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lars-gierveld-65727a3/
Insta: @kumasi_drinks