Indigenous Cacao - Ancestral Cultivation in Soconusco Chiapas
The presence of coconuts in what is now Mexico has been considered evidence of a connection between people of Southeast Asia & the 'Americas' before European contact. Another theory is that they were introduced by Spanish galleons traveling colonial routes between the Philippines and the 'Americas' - called the "Manila Galleons" they operated between 1565 to 1815.
Pictured is our lunch in Tapachula, Chiapas during a visit to the cacao growers in Soconusco. The very first batch of Fortuna chocolate was made with cacao cultivated by the farmers in this region.
Our upcoming collection will again feature chocolate from Soconusco, we are honored to continue to work with the cacaoterxs - those who farm cacao - from this region. Especially because of the work being done to build equity for the womxn working with the cacao trees, caring for the farming families and building financial independence. They are proudly organizing around the writings of legendary indigenous leader and feminist, Rigoberta Menchu.
In 1890, Porfirio Díaz (Mexican president for 31 years) and Otto von Bismarck (then German Emperor) collaborated to take advantage of southern Mexico's agricultural potential by sending 450 German families to colonize Soconusco. Enslaving local people on plantations and growing commodities like coffee and cacao. In many areas of Soconusco the land remains in European hands, for European profit, continuing to impoverish the local people. The cacao growers we work with in this region are organizing to take the land back and return the profits to its laborers.
Our upcoming collection will feature Soconusco cacao and will be proudly supporting sustainable, indigenous-led small scale farmers.
"Gather in your grain and seeds and collect the young shoots, because times of drought and hunger are approaching. Sharpen your weapons because it will not be long before enemies, hidden behind mountains and hills, will espy with greed the expanse and richness of these lands"
_The Popol Vuh
The Popol Vuh is a foundational sacred narrative of the Kʼicheʼ people who lived long before the European invasion and remain alive today. Their cultural territory extends across what is now Mexico, Guatemala and Belize. Many have been displaced and forcibly removed from their lands to make way for foreign plantations.
We honor those working to reclaim their ancestral lands and to continue their ancestral practice of cultivating cacao.
"Don't wait for strangers to remind you of your duty, you have a conscience and a spirit for that. All the good you do must come from your own initiative."
_ The Popol Vuh
The indigenous feminist leader Rigoberta Menchu spent her life dedicated to the sovereignty of her Kʼicheʼ community, the rights to land and safety of her people.
We honor her and the Kʼicheʼ farmers who continue to cultivate cacao.
