Cacao is believed to have originated in the Amazon Rainforest thousands of years ago. It was cultivated by ancient cultures, including the Mayans and Incas, who considered cacao a sacred fruit and a gift from the gods. Cacao beans were used as currency and in ceremonial rituals.
Cacao is a medicinal plant rich in antioxidants, flavonoids, and magnesium. It also contains essential nutrients like zinc, chromium, theobromine, vitamin C, iron, copper, tryptophan, and omega-6 fatty acids. Additionally, cacao has serotonin, a natural mood regulator, and anandamide, known as the "bliss molecule," which induces feelings of joy and well-being.

Ceremonial Cacao Recipe

• In a saucepan over low heat, add 2 tablespoons (30-35g) of cacao.
• As it melts, stir slowly and mindfully.
• Gradually add 110ml of water, stirring continuously.
• Optionally, add maca, turmeric with pepper, cinnamon & honey
• Blend with a blender or mix by hand.

Daily Drink Serving:

• In a mug, add 1 tablespoon (20g) of cacao.
• Add 110ml of water and mix.

♡ Flor de Cacao ♡

Made by Indigenous Ashaninka Women from the Yevanashi Community

from the Valley of Apurimac River where the Amazon Rainforest meet the Andes Mountains.

In this community, women exclusively manage the cultivation and processing of cacao, employing artisanal methods that maintain the cacao's nutrients and purity.

Our Ashaninka Cacao has a fruity and floral flavor

Its unique aroma and smoothness will make you taste the deep connection to the land where it grows and the hands that have nurtured cacao trees for generation.

Solid Cacao Bar (500g). Supports Womens Collective.

In the forests near Quillabamba, the Matsigenka communities cultivate Chuncho cacao, a variety adapted to the region’s humid microclimates. These trees, some reaching over 15 meters tall, grow alongside native flora in traditional forest gardens. Genetic studies suggest Chuncho cacao shares ancestry with wild populations that persisted through past climatic changes.  

The Matsigenka selectively propagate trees with desirable traits, such as aromatic pulp, using low-intensity agroforestry methods. This approach maintains genetic diversity and supports local pollinators. The beans, processed minimally, retain a mild flavor with subtle fruity notes, reflecting the variety’s adaptation to its environment.  

Chuncho cacao originates from a centuries-old symbiotic relationship with the Matsigenka (Machiguenga), an Indigenous Amazonian people of the Arawak linguistic family inhabiting the Manu Biosphere Reserve and Upper Urubamba River Basin in southeastern Peru. Genetic and anthropological evidence confirms their cultivation of Theobroma cacao —the Chuncho variety—since at least the 16th century, predating European contact.  

Chuncho cacao is bioculturally inseparable from Matsigenka life, functioning as both a nutritional staple and for communal practices. Ethnohistorical studies, trace its role in pre-Columbian rituals venerating Tasoni (forest spirits within their animist cosmology) and its circulation along ancient trade corridors connecting Amazonian lowlands to Andean highland societies, such as the Inca Empire.