Discover Miocene Chocolate: The Story Behind Our Name

Long before anyone called it “chocolate,” cacao’s ancestors were quietly evolving in what’s now the Amazon basin. Scientists trace their origins back to the Miocene epoch, when those forests were taking shape and the first wild cacao relatives were appearing. Around that same time, armored giants called glyptodonts lumbered through the same region.

We named our company Miocene to honor that deep-time origin story—the moment when cacao and our favorite prehistoric mascot first shared the same neighborhood.

What Is the Miocene epoch?

The Miocene was a period roughly 23–5 million years ago, when the Earth was warming, forests and grasslands were expanding, and many modern animals and ecosystems were taking shape. Think of it as a “coming-of-age” era for the planet, and the moment cacao’s story was just beginning.

Why name a chocolate company after it?

When diabetes entered our lives, traditional chocolate suddenly felt off-limits. We didn’t want to give it up; we wanted to rethink it from the ground up. Looking back to the Miocene felt right: it’s where cacao begins, and it’s a reminder that change is slow but worth it. 

Just like the world reshaped itself in that epoch, we’re reshaping what chocolate can be today with our bean-to-bar chocolate approach:

• Made the slow way from carefully sourced cacao.
• No sugar added chocolate, crafted for people watching their sugar and carbs.
• Unapologetically delicious, so it tastes like real chocolate, not a “diet” substitute.

Why a glyptodont?

Our mascot, the glyptodont, was a real prehistoric cousin of the armadillo—an armored giant that lived in the same region and era where cacao first appears in the record. It’s friendly, a little odd, and full of character, just like our chocolate. For us, it’s a reminder of where this whole story started.

What Miocene means in every bar:

For us, Miocene stands for:

• Patience – letting flavors develop over days, not minutes.
• Origins – honoring the cacao, the farmers, and the process.
• Second Chances – for everyone who thought chocolate was off-limits, this is your invitation back.

Ready to taste what Miocene means? Join the List for First Access.