Opinion: Why relationships outperform transactions

Goodnight

Hakan

Hradek

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Editor’s note: Aven Goodnight, Hailey Hakan and Hayden Hradek were among 15 southwest Missouri students selected for Chocolate University’s class of 2025, a partnership between Askinosie Chocolate, the Askinosie Foundation, Drury University and cocoa farmers based in southwestern Tanzania. The students participated in a 10-day trip to Tanzania, immersing themselves in the local culture along with agronomy, entrepreneurship and leadership training. Chocolate University can be reached at
foundation@askinosie.com.

Purpose up close
The moral of my high school business class was “profit comes first.” I believed this was the business model of any successful company. However, my views on what it means to be successful changed completely when I joined Chocolate University, a program created to connect students with the global communities behind Askinosie Chocolate products.

From the start, it was clear that Askinosie was not like most businesses. For example, they invested significant time and resources to help Chocolate University students understand the people and culture of the communities we would visit. The company viewed the trip not as a transaction, but as an opportunity to foster meaningful connections.

When we arrived in Tanzania, we met with the farmers and shared cups of chai. Later, we were invited to observe a business meeting between Shawn Askinosie (founder of Askinosie Chocolate) and the farmers to set the buying price for the upcoming harvest. Even though my Swahili was still beginner-level, I could tell that the discussion was about far more than numbers. The conversation was open, honest, and built on mutual respect. The farmers’ voices carried the same weight as Askinosie’s.

At the end of our trip, we met with the farmers again to share a meal on the beach and conduct a chocolate tasting. Even without a common language, we connected through something deeper: a shared appreciation for the work, care, and community that made the chocolate possible. To be successful does not mean having the largest profit margins; it means having a positive impact on communities and individuals.

—Hailey Hakan

Trust and community
It took four days to arrive in the small village of Mababu, Tanzania. Delayed air travel, van rides, the whole nine yards. And yet, everything seemed right. Staring down the hill, I found three men with traditional drums, playing together while another danced to the beat. You can imagine my surprise when, not even 10 minutes later, I found myself playing one of these drums, a part of this celebration. But, as I reflect on my experiences travelling with Askinosie Chocolate’s Chocolate University, I point out this moment as the critical revelation, the one that set in stone the idea of trust and community being hallmarks of true, sustainable business.

Unique to Askinosie Chocolate is that in an industry continuously guilty of exploiting farmers through the supply chain, the organization plays an active role in flipping this stereotype on its head. Rather than purchasing cocoa through a middleman or an auction, (Askinosie) has spent years visiting the farmers of Tanzania, building a direct trade relationship. Both sides of the relationship operate with trust and care at the core, with farmers committing to producing the quality cocoa beans that have come to define the 13-time Good Food Award-winning chocolate, and Askinosie committing to investing in the farmers, paying them fairly for the work they do, while also reinvesting in community projects in Mababu.

This model serves as an example of what business can, and should, look like when trust, not simply transaction, is the foundation: long-term partnerships where success is not measured in quarterly returns, but in how communities, both small and large, grow together. This process again serves as a reminder to businesses across the Ozarks: Building something meant to last also means investing in your partners’ long-term success as much as your own. ... It is as simple as becoming radically transparent, offering skills and training from one business to another, co-investing in community projects or committing to long-term contracts and relationships.

—Hayden Hradek

Quiet, consistent presence
In the village, there are no sales pitches. No rehearsed narratives. Just relationships. People greet you by name. You might be invited into a home or find a child falling asleep in your lap. ... Conversations flow about the harvest, yes, but also about the daily rhythms of life. It’s here that you begin to see what many businesses forget: Trust is built not just in contracts and transactions but in quiet, consistent presence.

Askinosie’s direct trade model isn’t a pricing strategy. It’s a long-term investment in people. Farmers like Mama Mpoki, the lead farmer in Mababu, aren’t just suppliers; they’re true partners in shaping the product, the process, and the purpose. The farmers didn’t see themselves as vendors or laborers. They were decision-makers. Co-owners in both process and purpose.

When you speak with Shawn Askinosie about the farmers he works with, you’ll hear names, not numbers. You’ll hear stories, not stats. And you’ll quickly realize that for Askinosie Chocolate, this isn’t philanthropy. It’s a smart and sustainable business. Because when farmers have a voice, the quality improves. When communities thrive, the supply chain stabilizes. And when everyone shares in the outcome, the business grows in integrity as well as profit. The most powerful models of business are not loud and linear. They are relational, rooted, resilient. They are built through the daily, deliberate act of building one another up, until the work itself becomes a reflection of the community that shaped it.

—Aven Goodnight