In today’s world, anyone can go anywhere and find a Starbucks, a 7 Brew, or another chain convenience store that sells these products.
But when you walk into Hattiesburg’s local Mulukakao, to the smell of fresh coffee beans and the welcoming smiles of the baristas, it becomes more than buying a sweet treat. It’s stepping into an experience made possible by the labor of love.
Anjie Price and her husband Noel Montoya are the owners of Mulukakao, a local coffee and chocolate shop that was born from a dream of more for Matagalpa, a small town in Nicaragua. Price and her husband opened Mulukakao’s first store in Matagalpa before opening their second location all the way here in Hattiesburg.
“When I started, it was very clear to everyone involved; I got no clue what I’m doing,” Price said. “But we’re gonna figure it out together… and we grew together.”
The business exports and imports all their own cacao and coffee beans from Nicaragua to Hattiesburg, where every bit of product is turned into delicious coffees and treats. But before that, Price was a Peace Corps worker from Moselle, Mississippi. She said that before she was involved in the coffee business, she taught English and helped build infrastructures in rural communities.
“While I was in the Peace Corps, I had a gig,” said Price, “of teaching English to coffee cuppers. I always say, ‘those people didn’t learn any English, but I learned a lot about cupping.”
Cupping is the process of evaluating the quality of coffee beans. Price said that after a day of teaching, she would go and sit for hours at the only coffee shop in Matagalpa, the town she was stationed at; the shop owned by her now husband, Noel Montoya. He and his family in Nicaragua have been in the business of growing coffee beans and cacao for generations. The two of them fell in love and got married and later embarked on their journey of founding Mulukakao.
“He comes from many generations of coffee farmers,” Price said. “But one day he called and said, ‘We should get into cacao,’ and I said, ‘We don’t know anything about cacao.’ He said, ‘We don’t right now, but we will.’”
Price and Montoya started by learning to take cacao and coffee beans from their original states, turning them into coffee and chocolate. Every single cacao pod and coffee cherry is hand-picked from a tree before it is packed and sent to a shop to be processed and turned into the fine chocolate or specialty coffee they sell.
Price never took any courses in culinary school or got any degrees. She said that she and her husband learned through the process of simply doing, going through the process until they found success.
Today, they’re known for their fine chocolate and specialty coffee here in Hattiesburg after the couple moved back to Price’s home state. Their products range from chocolate bonbons, brownies and cheesecakes, lattes, cappuccinos and more. Mulukakao also works alongside other local businesses, like Two Bros Roasting in Sumrall and Mulvi’s Coffee Company in Hattiesburg.
“It’s fun to be a part of something that’s new,” Price said. “You know, they’re like us. They’re small and they’re growing, and we’re excited to grow with them.”
After Price’s time spent in Nicaragua, she learned the reality behind the quality and taste of coffee and how it impacted the market. She realized that many people weren’t used to the taste of dark chocolates, but rather milk chocolates that were much lighter and more sugary. She and her husband had to pivot with their recipes, introducing dark chocolate slowly but surely.
“I can remember our little grand opening we did in Nicaragua, and being so proud of my little bon bons and having somebody eat one,” Price said. “A little girl ate one, and just, like, spit it out. And I realized like ‘Oh, wait a minute, okay.’”
Price said that one of the most challenging hurdles was developing recipes that people in the South would enjoy. People in the South are more often used to overly sweetened chocolate; not raw cacao and dark chocolate like Mulukakao sells. She said that over time, though, customers who visited became accustomed to it and enjoyed the taste of darker chocolates.
Another thing that Price has learned through operating a small business is how to be agile and pivot in the face of modern-day issues. Things like tariffs, for one; Nicaragua currently faces a 15% tariff for importing goods. Price says that larger chain companies can absorb those extra costs, but smaller businesses must adapt to the game.
“I guess the adaptability, being open to the radical acceptance of anything that happens, allows you to be able to pivot when you need to,” Price said. “The time that you spend complaining about and resisting the changes that happen is time you could have spent finding a solution.”
Now, nine years later, Price and Montoya have established local connections with businesses and customers all around. Anyone who visits Mulukakao can expect a sweet experience and even sweeter treats—unless you prefer your coffee and chocolate extra dark.