Meet Dan

FOUNDER OF SACRED TASTE

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THE LONGEST JOURNEY MAN CAN TAKE IS FROM HIS HEAD TO HIS HEART

My Journey

2012

I was at the peak of my DJ career, living the dream I’d held since I was a kid. Playing at the biggest festivals in Australia and sharing stages with the artists I had always looked up to. But behind the scenes, I began to see through the bright lights and led screens. The music scene had a dark side.

2013

In March 2013, I achieved my biggest dream - warming up for trance legends Above & Beyond at a sold-out show in my hometown, Melbourne, in front of 7,500 people. But as I stood there on top of that mountain, looking down at the crowd, I realised the shadow of what iI created.

What started as a dream soon turned into a nightmare. The scene became so riddled with drugs and alcohol that I began to watch my friends slowly slip into addiction and lose themselves along the way.

It was Stereosonic 2013 when I played my last set. After opening the trance arena for the second day, I sat in the crowd and just observed: people overdosing, fights breaking out, people intoxicated, the planet suffering. Something deep inside me knew this wasn’t right. I didn’t want to be an ambassador for this anymore.

2014

I knew I was destined for something more, something greater. I made a promise to myself that if I was ever going to pour so much energy into something again, it had to be good for the planet and for the people. So I started on my journey of self discovery to find out exactly what that might be.

I sold everything I owned, erased my identity, and packed everything into a van and left my old life behind. I spent my days swimming in the ocean, meditating, watching every sunrise and sunset. I even started an urban gardening business based on wellness and sustainability - which led me to Bondi Beach where I met cacao.

I soon found myself at a gathering in Bondi Beach. But this one was different. It wasn’t filled with drugs and alcohol. It was a sober gathering with over 200 people in a backyard, two tipis, gentle music and everyone huddled around a giant pot with one drink… cacao.

2015

Cacao opened my heart in ways I never experienced before. It brought down my walls, gave me more life force and made me feel genuinely happy. I journeyed into three years of sobriety, with cacao as my substitute - for coffee, alcohol, and other substances. It became my new companion. It became my best friend.

2016

After years away from the scene, I was coaxed back onto the decks. At first I was hesitant - the fear still lingered. But something was different. The crowd was open, grounded and sober. As I played, something shifted. I felt alive. Present. Free. With music and cacao, we were creating a high we didn’t come down from - that's when Sacred was born.

2017

The following year, we hosted a series of Full Moon Cacao Parties where cacao opened our hearts and the music elevated our minds. My partner prepared and served the cacao, I played on the decks and our friends came together to co-create the experience. It was built by the community, for the community - and it really brought us together.

2018

Lost Paradise 2018 was a full circle moment for me – bringing Sacred back to where it all began: music festivals. In a sea of drugs and alcohol, our humble cacao bar became the heart of the party. Proving you can have a good time without substances by playing an 18-hour set from 9am to 3am to close the festival – all fuelled by cacao.

2019

Our success earned us an invitation to Rainbow Serpent festival. The music, the cacao, the energy - it was everything the music scene needed and people craved it. In April 2019, we hosted our first warehouse cacao party just off Melbourne’s iconic Chapel Street - the same strip I’d DJ'd on for many years in my old life. It was time the clear the karma.

From DJ Sensation

Rising as one of Melbourne’s most exciting up-and-coming Trance DJs, Dan fulfilled his childhood dream by performing at all of his favourite festivals such as Future Music, Creamfields, Summadayze and Stereosonic and sharing the stage with idols like Paul Oakenfold, Cosmic Gate, Armin and Above & Beyond just to name a few.

To Sustainability Advocate

Leaving the Trance scene at the peak, Dan came down that mountain to persue a more holistic lifestyle. Packing everything into a van and moving to Bondi, Dan became an urgan grower, and started his first business, GrowSPACE which taught people how to grow more food in less space and minimal effort. It was here when he met Cacao.

Mixing Both Worlds

Soon after arriving in Bondi, Dan was introduced to Cacao at a sober house party. From there he discovered the healing and uplifting effects Cacao can have on the body mind and spirit and how you can create a natural high, without the comedown. He then did 3 years sobriety with Cacao as his substitute, for coffee, alchohol and other substances.

Into the Amazon

2019

After brining the cacao parties back to my hometown, Melbourne where my journey first started, I knew we had something special. But if I was going to climb another mountain I wanted to make sure that when I got to the top and looked down I didn't see any destruction. So I went straight to the source - the Amazon Basin.

After weeks of searching through the highlands and lowlands of Peru, my path led me deep into the heart of the VRAEM – also referred to as the “cocaine corridor” – where I’d heard of an Indigenous village growing cacao to resist the narcotics trade. It took a 16-hour bus ride and a 7-hour canoe journey into the Amazon, where I met the Ashaninka – Guardians of the Rainforest.

Here, over 350 Ashaninka families grow and cultivate cacao as a way to preserve their land, protect the rainforest, and uphold their way of life. Faced with threats from deforestation and the narcotics trade, they’ve turned to cacao as a source of income to help reclaim their land. Cocaine farmers are encroaching on their territory, polluting rivers and destroying the rainforest – putting their environment, culture, and future at risk.

I spent time with the Ashaninka, learning about their ways, their history, their beliefs, and their deep connection to nature. Known as the Guardians of the Rainforest, they live simply, in harmony with the land. The more I listened, the more I understood their struggles, and their vision for a better future. They weren’t just growing cacao. They were protecting their home. So we made a promise: their cacao would help keep drugs off our streets, and our support would help keep drugs out of their jungles. A sacred partnership was born.

2020

Soon after returning from the Amazon, the pandemic hit – and our events came to a halt. With time on our hands, my partner and I began refining our recipes, reducing sugar without losing flavour. We spent months experimenting, perfecting the blends and packaging.

2021

We set out to create something everyone could connect with – inspired by the elements of nature, yet grounded in simplicity. In February 2021, we launched our first major production run, and within months, our cacao was on shelves in over 200 stores and cafes across Australia. Sacred was one of the first brands of its kind.

Cacao became a big hit - not just with us, but across the entire wellness scene. What was once a niche, ceremonial drink was turning into a global movement. People were craving connection, presence, and something real – and cacao offered exactly that. The market was growing fast, and deep down, we knew this was only the beginning.

2022

Melbourne became the most locked down city in the world, and during the pandemic, many lost touch with themselves, spirit, the planet, and each other. We forgot how to truly connect. So we created a series of New Moon and Full Moon events - safe spaces to help people reconnect with themselves, with spirit, with nature, and with one another.

2023

After running sold-out New Moon Cacao Ceremonies and Full Moon Cacao Parties every two weeks for over a year, word began to spread. Our efforts gained global reputation and soon we were invited to host ceremonies and parties all around the world - from Switzerland to Ibiza, Netherlands to Costa Rica.

As soon as the pandemic eased, we returned to visit the Ashaninka to see how they were doing – only to find the trees heavy with cacao, but less than 10% of it being purchased, most of it by me. They were struggling to keep their business alive. So I stayed in Peru for three months, working alongside them to build a long-term solution. Together, we created a contract that guaranteed the purchase of all their cacao for many years to come.

2024

Everything was going beautifully with the Ashaninka. They were overjoyed with the contract and invited us to a sacred assembly to meet 250 tribal leaders and growers, and the 350 families our agreement would support – to share the news of our Sacred partnership. But the celebration was short-lived. Not long after, the cacao crisis hit.

Heavy rainfall and flash flooding wiped out nearly 40% of the Ashaninka’s crops, leaving much of the land devastated. Ten days of rain almost undid ten years of hard work. But they bounced back with strength and spirit. Meanwhile, the global cacao crisis was beginning to take hold – rising demand, climate change, and crop shortages were putting immense pressure on the industry, threatening this sacred plant.

The Search for Cacao

What began as a simple quest for the purest heart-opening medicine of the world, became a pilgrimage deep into the soul of the rainforest. From the highlands of Peru to canoe rides through the Amazon, Dan followed whispers of an ancient message which led him through "Cocaine Corridor" where he met the Ashaninka - Guardians of the Rainforest.

The Ashaninka

Living alongside the Ashaninka, Dan discovered their deep connection to nature, community, and spirit. He learned not just how they grow cacao, but why – as both a quiet rebellion against the narcotics trade and a sacred act of regeneration. Their way of life revealed what it truly means to live in community, in harmony with nature and each other.

From the Jungle to the City

Whether in the jungle or the city, Dan kept encountering the same issue: the narcotics trade was causing harm - and cacao was the answer. For Dan, it became an alternative to drugs and alcohol. For the Ashaninka, it was a powerful crop to reclaim their land and push back against the trade. From these shared intentions, a sacred partnership was born.

The Next Chapter

2025

As we reached the summit of this next mountain, we once again see devastation below - not by our hands, but by the industry. Once revered as sacred medicine, cacao has been stripped of its essence, reduced to mere chocolate, and commodified to the point of near extinction.

Cacao has been so heavily commodified and commercialised that the industry is now in crisis. Rising demand, unsustainable farming and climate change led to major crop failures in West Africa in 2024. Prices surged over 400%, making cacao the fastest-growing commodity of the year - even surpassing Bitcoin. Small farmers are are being pushed out, supply chains are strained, and what was once sacred is now being stripped and reduced to profit by the chocolate industry.

A new mission emerged: not just to share cacao with the world, but to protect it. As big corporations buy up beans to mass-produce chocolate, the spirit of this sacred plant is being lost. If we want to keep cacao alive in its purest form, it’s up to us to honour it, and protect it. Not alone, but together, with the Ashaninka, and with everyone who purchases our products.

Every Sacred purchase directly supports the Ashaninka – not just through fair cacao trade, but through our broader mission. The Sacred Foundation was created to protect what matters most: the sacred plants, animals, and cultures that carry the ancient wisdom needed to heal our modern world.

The Ancient Mayans once believed:
"Whenever there's an imbalance between humans and nature, cacao makes its way out of the jungle to open our hearts and restore the planet to a state of harmony"

- and it's our mission to do just that.

By supporting Sacred, you’re not just backing our mission – you’re helping restore balance to the planet. Our wild-crafted cacao is grown in its natural habitat, not on farms or plantations, preserving biodiversity and protecting Indigenous culture and ancient wisdom. From seed to serve, every cup is a bridge - connecting city and jungle, modern life and sacred tradition.

How You Can Support:
By ordering our Sacred products and sharing sacred moments with family, friends, colleagues – or even better, with strangers or those we may consider as enemies. After all, nothing brings more harmony to the world than compassion, connection, and the courage to forgive those we share hurt with.

By donating to our Foundation:
Offer your time, energy, or resources to the Sacred Foundation. Every contribution directly supports our Ashaninka growers, protects wild cacao, and helps preserve the Sacred Rainforests that breathe life into our planet.

(Coming Soon)

Asking local stores & cafe to stock us:
One of the most powerful ways to support us is by requesting Sacred cacao at your local store. The more shelves we’re on, the more hearts we reach. Greater access means more people can experience the health benefits of cacao – and together, we ripple out the positive impact for our communities and the planet.

By joining us at a Sacred Event:
Come dance, connect, and sip cacao with us at one of our Sacred Ceremonies, Parties, or Gatherings. Every ticket supports our growers at the source and helps protect the sacred rainforests they call home – turning each moment of celebration into a ripple of regeneration.

By sharing this message with the world:
Spread the word of our sacred mission – so we can slow the destruction of Mother Nature and protect cacao in its purest form. Together, we can restore the balance between humans and nature, and return the planet to a state of harmony - not just for us, but for our children.

A MESSAGE FROM OUR FOUNDER

"We played for 12 hours a day 4 days in a row and on the last day we played from 9am - 3am - an 18 hour set just on cacao"

DAN KOCH - Founder, Sacred
Reflecting on mixing the two worlds.

A MESSAGE FROM THE FOUNDER

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