HEIRLOOM CACAO PRESERVATION FUND
  • About Us
    • About HCP
    • How HCP Works
    • What is Heirloom Cacao?
    • Leadership
    • Meet Our Partners
    • FAQs
  • Our Heirloom Farmers
    • Our Heirloom Farmers >
      • AFRICA >
        • Tujikomboe Farmers Group, Tanzania
        • Akesson's Bejofo Estate, Madagascar
      • CENTRAL AMERICA >
        • BFREE, Belize
        • Maya Mountain Cacao, Belize
        • Quantum Cacao, Costa Rica
        • Kampura Farms, Guatemala
        • Finca Flores de Miriam, GUATEMALA
        • Finca Nahuatancillo, GUATEMALA
        • Nicalizo, Nicaragua
        • Chuno, Nicaragua
      • NORTH AMERICA >
        • Hawaii Agriculture Research Center
      • SOUTH AMERICA >
        • Alto Beni, Bolivia
        • Tranquilidad Estate, Bolivia
        • Hacienda Limon, Ecuador
        • ASOANE, Ecuador
        • Piedra de Plata, Ecuador
        • APOVINCES, Ecuador
      • SOUTHEAST ASIA >
        • Pham Thanh Cong, VIETNAM
        • VO Thanh Phuoc, VIETNAM
        • Puentespina Farms, PHILIPPINES
        • Helen de Vista, PHILIPPINES
    • Buy Heirloom Beans
    • Apply to the HCP
  • HCP in Action
    • Excellence on the Ground >
      • MEXICO
      • GUATEMALA
      • PERU
      • COLOMBIA
      • MADAGASCAR
    • Action Blog
    • EVENTS
    • Annual Reports
  • Get Involved
    • Donate
    • Ed Seguine Bursary Sponsorship
    • Chocolate Saves the World
    • Buy Heirloom Chocolate
    • Use of the HCP Mark
  • Resources
    • HCP Protocols
    • HCP Technical Nursery Guide
    • HCP Technical Training Videos
    • The Review
    • The Foundations of Flavor in Madagascar
    • Geological and Early Human Influences On Cacao Flavor
  • Contact
    • Subscribe
    • Press
  • About Us
    • About HCP
    • How HCP Works
    • What is Heirloom Cacao?
    • Leadership
    • Meet Our Partners
    • FAQs
  • Our Heirloom Farmers
    • Our Heirloom Farmers >
      • AFRICA >
        • Tujikomboe Farmers Group, Tanzania
        • Akesson's Bejofo Estate, Madagascar
      • CENTRAL AMERICA >
        • BFREE, Belize
        • Maya Mountain Cacao, Belize
        • Quantum Cacao, Costa Rica
        • Kampura Farms, Guatemala
        • Finca Flores de Miriam, GUATEMALA
        • Finca Nahuatancillo, GUATEMALA
        • Nicalizo, Nicaragua
        • Chuno, Nicaragua
      • NORTH AMERICA >
        • Hawaii Agriculture Research Center
      • SOUTH AMERICA >
        • Alto Beni, Bolivia
        • Tranquilidad Estate, Bolivia
        • Hacienda Limon, Ecuador
        • ASOANE, Ecuador
        • Piedra de Plata, Ecuador
        • APOVINCES, Ecuador
      • SOUTHEAST ASIA >
        • Pham Thanh Cong, VIETNAM
        • VO Thanh Phuoc, VIETNAM
        • Puentespina Farms, PHILIPPINES
        • Helen de Vista, PHILIPPINES
    • Buy Heirloom Beans
    • Apply to the HCP
  • HCP in Action
    • Excellence on the Ground >
      • MEXICO
      • GUATEMALA
      • PERU
      • COLOMBIA
      • MADAGASCAR
    • Action Blog
    • EVENTS
    • Annual Reports
  • Get Involved
    • Donate
    • Ed Seguine Bursary Sponsorship
    • Chocolate Saves the World
    • Buy Heirloom Chocolate
    • Use of the HCP Mark
  • Resources
    • HCP Protocols
    • HCP Technical Nursery Guide
    • HCP Technical Training Videos
    • The Review
    • The Foundations of Flavor in Madagascar
    • Geological and Early Human Influences On Cacao Flavor
  • Contact
    • Subscribe
    • Press

HCP in Action

Wild Cacao Could Die Out. We Can’t Let It.

9/28/2021

 

CAPUTO’S MARKET AND LUISA ABRAM FIGHT TO PRESERVE BIODIVERSITY

Picture
Caputo's Market and Deli located in SLC, UT, is a specialty food market and deli, focused on protecting and preserving the food traditions of the world's collective ancestors. The Caputo's are the largest supporter of the HCP, donating the proceeds of their annual Chocolate Fest since 2013.  

Caputo’s Market and Luisa Abram Chocolate are launching a collaborative chocolate bar using a unique strain of unfarmed cacao (not found anywhere else in the world) from Brazil’s Jurua region in the upper Amazonian jungle, paid for pre-harvest by Caputo’s. The prepayment investment provides the foragers with the means necessary to harvest and process the wild cacao, build their own fermentary, and allows Luisa Abram to transform the cacao into chocolate. The entire US allocation of wild Jurua beans will be branded as the Caputo’s Wild Jurua 70% bar, and will be the only way US consumers can experience this exceptionally rare cacao. The companies are also planning “Amazon Camp,” an opportunity for Caputo’s crew members to visit the areas in Brazil in which cacao is harvested and see for themselves the challenges involved. 

Biodiversity, craftsmanship, and sustainability suffer when large scale chocolate makers take the lead. The effects of Covid 19 have only exacerbated the problem; during the beginning of the pandemic Luisa Abram's father Andre told Matt Caputo that his favorite bar, Jurua 70%, would be permanently discontinued. This bar was made with a genetic strain of wild cacao that only grows along the banks of the Jurua River in Brazil's Upper Amazon. He explained the mounting challenges and financial burden of foraging for and processing this incredibly unique cacao (in the world's most remote jungle) made it impossible to continue. 

Matt states: “As Andre explained their challenges, I...realized that any hope of making this wild crop economically viable may take a decade of investment. I knew their company was facing pandemic induced financial challenges and could not shoulder the burden.This is when I knew that despite our own pandemic emergencies, Caputo's could solve this. If we throw out any expectation of profit on this chocolate bar in the near future, we could prepay for the next harvest. Luisa and Caputo's together could make sure the small community in the Jurua had the money and guidance to set up their own fermentary and continue to return to Jurua to harvest this incredible cacao, year after year.” With Caputo’s guaranteed support, Luisa can purchase all of the Jurua cacao the foragers can procure. 

The Caputo’s Wild Jurua 70% bar isn’t about seeing a worthy investment return in this generation; it is about ensuring this crown jewel of cacao from the Amazon is protected for future generations. This isn’t the first time Caputo’s has stepped up to invest in an artisan in need; Mesa Farm, a cheesemaker in Southern Utah, credits Caputo’s for their survival through the company’s determined efforts to brand, sell, and support the craftsmanship demonstrated by Mesa Farm. With success stories such as Mesa Farm, one can only assume the new Wild Jurua bar will be around for years to come; and with it, the wild cacao from which it is crafted and the foragers whose livelihood depends on it. 

Learn more about the bar and the Caputo's Preservation Program (CPP) on their blog post here.

    Archives

    January 2025
    December 2024
    October 2024
    July 2024
    December 2023
    October 2023
    September 2023
    August 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    September 2021
    February 2021
    December 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    April 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    June 2018
    April 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    February 2017
    March 2016
    December 2015

    Categories

    All
    Discovery Expeditions

Picture
 About Us  |  Our Heirloom Farmers  |   ​DONATE   |  Apply to the HCP   |  Contact Us   |  Buy Heirloom Chocolate  |   HCP in Action​  | Press
​Branding and Logo Design: Sharon Klein Graphic Design | www.skgd.net
© COPYRIGHT 2024 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.