Small Retail Business Spotlight: September 2026

Ella Livingston 
Cocoa Asante, Chattanooga, Tenn. 

This month’s spotlight features Ella Livington, founder of Cocoa Asante, a Chattanooga, Tenn.-based producer of premium Ghanaian-sourced chocolate. 

Tell us the story of how your business started. What inspired you to open your doors? 

My family has grown cocoa in Ghana for generations, and I started Cocoa Asante in 2018 to expand that legacy into something people experience, crafted in a way that honors where it comes from and the people who grow it. We craft premium bonbons that are almost too pretty to eat. Our chocolates are ethically sourced from Ghana, intentionally made in Chattanooga and impossible to forget. 

Ella Livington, founder of Cocoa Asante

What is one challenge you have faced as a small retailer, and how did you overcome it? 

Surviving. We just celebrated eight years of business and what has allowed us to continue to grow is navigating changes with positivity and a relentless desire to build an impactful supply chain for our cocoa farmers while also serving our customers. 

How have you adapted your business to changes in retail, technology or customer expectations? 

Social media videos turned us from a local chocolate shop into a national brand, so we learned to treat content as a storefront rather than an ad. This has allowed us to reach more customers and grow our community, while also being able to shape how the platform works for small businesses. 

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