MEET THE CACAO FARMERS
CACAO FARMERS
Farm to table is one of the best movements. Knowing who grows your food and where it is grown is an amazing thing.
You should know who grows your cacao in the same way you know who grows your carrots at the farmer's market.
PERUVIAN CACAO
The Amaru cacao is grown near the beautiful small town of Tocache, Peru.
The Uturunku cacao is grown near the town of Tarapoto, Peru.
RONALDO - AMARU CACAO FARMER
Rolando is a native Peruvian from the Amazonian jungle who is proudly dedicated to the production of organic and fair-traded cacao. He is pioneering the resurgence of traditional cacao growing and production in the area of Peru previously heavily affected by drug cartels and the illegal cocaine industry.
Rolando has applied his skills and expertise to promoting the image, production, transformation, and quality of Peruvian cacao to put Peru on the world map with artisanal cacao and chocolate production. His push for social sustainability and environmental harmony with cacao farming is bringing big change to an industry that has previously struggled with the exploitation of farmers, communities, and the Amazon jungle.
Rolando's cacao represents the courage and perseverance of many farmers who decided to sow the best, finest cacao in the world in the face of adversity. They have found in this boldness the hope of transforming their lives through love, working in conditions of equality, justice and a passion for biodiversity and the environment.
"This love is the main ingredient in their cacao."
We 100% support the mission of Rolando and his people to Rescue Cacao in Peru and return the love, respect, environmental protection and culture that has been lost through global commercialisation and corruption in the industry.
ARTURO PEREZ -UTURUNKU CACAO FARMER
Growing up in Jaen - Northern Peru, known as the birthplace of cacao, where it was first domesticated some 7500 years ago, Arturo learned about the sacredness and medicine behind this special master plant.
His dream was to be able to grow cacao in an ancestral way with reverence, love, respect, and tradition to bring this amazing plant to the world.
He now spends his time crafting the world's finest ancestral cacao on his farm near Tarapoto, Peru. He is a plant specialist and has incredible ancestral knowledge of the flora and fauna that surround his cacao. A true bushman who thrives in the jungle environment and has such a passion for connecting to Pachamama (mother earth).
His cacao, in honor of the tribes of Jaen and central Peru, is called Uturunku - meaning the jaguar, and it is named after the middle world of the Andean-Amazonia trilogy.
Each block is crafted with love, following the ancient traditions of his people, who were the first in the world to domesticate cacao. It is a powerful plant that embodies us into the present, connects us to the natural world, and allows us to journey inwards to reconnect and re-birth ourselves.
