Our story
Seven women.
One quiet ritual.
Seven Sisters was made by Renee and Sophia, two sisters in Aotearoa who wanted their mornings back.
The founders
Renee and Sophia.
We’re Renee and Sophia, sisters who grew up in the small coastal town of Te Horo on the Kāpiti Coast. These days, we both live on Auckland’s North Shore with our families, balancing motherhood, business and creating lives that feel meaningful to us.
Sophia is the founder of women’s wellness business Heal with Sophia, where cacao has become a natural part of her work. She uses it for one-on-one client sessions, retreats, events and Reiki trainings, and over time began to notice the effect it had on the women she worked with. It created connection. It helped people soften and open their hearts. There was an expansive, happy energy to it, alongside the many natural benefits of cacao itself.
Renee is the co-owner of Shirl + Moss Chocolate, a boutique chocolate factory she runs with her fiancé, Simon. Their focus has always been on creating premium chocolate using only real, high-quality ingredients, made with care and without unnecessary extras. Renee is also passionate about ethical and sustainable sourcing.
Seven Sisters came from bringing those two worlds together.
Sophia brought a deep connection to cacao as a ritual for wellbeing and connection. Renee brought the craft, knowledge and experience of working with cacao at its source. Alongside our mum, Robyn, we saw an opportunity to create something that honoured all of those things, while also fitting around the lives we were building as mothers and business owners.
Seven Sisters is our way of sharing the magic of cacao with more people across Aotearoa. Something beautiful, nourishing and easy to make part of everyday life, created with heart, real ingredients and a genuine love for what cacao can bring into a moment.
Our cacao
Made by hand,
from the bean.
Our cacao is ethically sourced from the Solomon Islands and handcrafted bean-to-bar in Auckland, in small batches we make ourselves.
Whole beans, stone ground so the cacao keeps its own oils and character. Nothing added, nothing taken away, which is also why it is naturally rich in the minerals the bean already carries.
Every batch is infused with Reiki, as a blessing of love, gratitude and positive energy. It is our way of making sure intention goes in at the start, not just at the point someone lifts the cup.
- Single origin, Solomon Islands
- Bean-to-bar in Auckland
- Whole beans, stone ground
- Nothing added, nothing removed
- Small batch, made by hand
- Infused with Reiki
Why seven
The number was
always there.
Across three generations of our family there are seven sisters. This lineage of women is the strength, wisdom and love passed from one generation to the next, and it is who the brand is named for.
Seven Sisters is our way of honouring the women who came before us, while making something new for the ones who follow.
Seven in nature
Written into the sky,
and into the cacao.
The Seven Sisters star cluster, known as the Pleiades and connected in Aotearoa with Matariki, has long stood for renewal, guidance and new beginnings. Its rising is a moment to look back at where you have come from, and decide what you want to make next.
When we learned how our cacao is actually grown and gathered, the number turned up again, three more times.
Seven villages
Growing it
The cacao is grown by family growers across seven small village communities.
Seven days
Fermented
The beans rest and ferment for seven days, the slow step where the flavour of the cacao is really made.
Seven days
Dried in the Pacific sun
Then seven days laid out under the sun, turned by hand, until they are ready to travel.
Seven rivers
Crossed
The team collecting the harvest crosses seven rivers before the cacao begins its journey to us.
Rich volcanic soil, whole beans and generations of careful farming. It is why the cacao tastes the way it does, and part of why we could not have named this anything else.
The everyday
Cacao deserves a place
in an ordinary day.
Not saved for ceremony, not something you have to prepare for. A rich, nourishing cup that fits into the morning you already have, or the afternoon that needs a pause, or the quiet part of the evening.
We would like to see cacao sitting beside coffee and matcha, in homes and in cafés. That is the whole ambition.
Thank you for being here. Every order supports two mums in Aotearoa making something by hand, with a great deal of care and a fair bit of mess.
We hope it gives you what it gave us: one moment in the day that belongs to you.
With love, Renee & Sophia