Our Cacao
Meet Mother Cacao and the intricate uniqueness that each strain has to offer.....
Our Seed To Ceremony
Promise
From seed to ceremony, we only work with co-operatives and family-run businesses, supporting indigenous entrepreneurship with our exchanges. All of our cacao is sourced from communities through symbiotic, ethically supportive relationships which enable everyone, including the cacao trees and forests, to thrive.
Peruvian Ceremonial Cacao
From the Santipo region of the Central Peruvian Highlands
This ancient strain of Criollo Cacao comes from an indigenous community within the Santipo region of the central Peruvian Highlands. They are the first all-indigenous run cooperative in the whole of Peru, the families living 100% from the abundance of the forest. The cacao trees are grown on small family owned plots of land, in a biodiverse rainforest. The manager incharge of bean selection, roasting and grinding is a young, educated woman from this region, which represents the powerful wave of women stepping into stewarding the future of ceremonial cacao.
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The energy of this cacao feels deeply feminine and nurturing, whilst also being incredibly powerful and deep. Her messages carry a lot of healing! Perfect for use with deep shamanic journeying, playing music, nature connection, meditation and time spent with loved ones.
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Ethics & Values
From "seed to ceremony" we only work with co-operatives and family-run businesses, supporting indigenous entrepreneurship with our exchanges.
The co-op was founded in 1998 with the intentions of working with small farmers to preserve traditional methods of cultivating, processing and harvesting cacao.
Their four founding principles are:
Prioritising quality over quantity
Supporting Andean mega-biodiversity, not homogenisation
Promoting organic methods of production
Fair income distribution amongst the people participating as suppliers, transformers and traders
Social responsibility, following the principles of Fair Trade
The co-op works alongside the small farmers, generating employment for the local community and offering training and financial support to encourage indigenous entrepreneurship, raising the living standards of small farmers and sustainably increasing crop yields.
Small Batch Cacao Farmers
The natural variation in this ancient strain and wild product, means each small batch has it's own unique profile and characteristics. The more intact the natural product is, the more variation there is from small batch to small batch. So each batch of this cacao changes in unique beauty!
Investing in small batch, indigenous production which has the natural variation of wild and heirloom seeds and preparation methods which are not industrialised. Really authentic, and not readily accessible these days.
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Ecuadorian Ceremonial Cacao
From the Amazonian region of the Tena.
This ancient strain of Ecuadorian Cacao is harvested with devotion by indigenous Quechua families in the Amazonian region of the Tena. This is one of the rarest, purest varieties of cacao in the world, coming from 50 year old cacao trees who carry the deep wisdom of the forest.
This Cacao is hand roasted and prepared by the Shaman of the community, infusing this sacred plant medicine with love, magic and prayer - making her a very potent cacao.
As this strain of cacao is so raw, she contains 'gurmos' which are beautiful grains and nibbles that swirl through the block. The gurmos mean that she is best prepared by whizzing in a blender, to create a silky-smooth, yummy elixir.
This cacao is very powerful, with a lightness of energy meaning she is excellent for ecstatic dance, erotic explorations and time connecting to your higher self. Energising, euphoric and utterly delicious!
