ORIGIN PROFILE

      For thousands of years, the indigenous Arhuacos people, who are direct descendants of the Tayrona, have been the guardians of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta. They existed as an agricultural community living off of the abundance of resources in their fertile landscape. Being a deeply spiritual people, they believed the region they live in to be the center of the universe, stewarding and protecting it was of utmost importance. They farmed the low foothills of the surrounding snow-capped mountains for generations until the Spanish Conquistadors took control of their land forcing them to move higher up the mountains to farm less productive land. Despite being displaced, the Arhuaco have survived! In 1974 the Arhuaco and surrounding tribes organized together to get their region designated as an Indigenous Reserve, which was later recognized as a protected area in 1984. This has allowed them to begin to occupy some of their native farming lands. One of the crops they were able to revive was cacao. Their close geographic proximity to Venezuela has lent unique genetics to the cacao that has grown there for centuries. The Arhuaco have begun to cultivate these trees again and are producing exceptional cacao. There is a relatively small volume of cacao grown and exported from there each year, we are honored to have a portion of that. The flavor of the chocolate is soft, and subtle, with aromas that remind you of the warm smell of a barn full of hay and flavor notes of bananas and fudge. This bar is able to strike a well balanced chord that highlights earthy tones played against a backdrop of tropical fruits. The Arhuaco take tremendous pride in the cacao they produce, we share that pride as we bring you this unique offering.