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.