Luisa Abram Rio Juruá 70%

LUISA ABRAM CHOCOLATE

• What is it: chocolate bar created with wild cacao from the Juruá River. In 2016, the NGO SOS Amazônia started the Valores da Amazônia project with 9 cooperatives along the rivers of the Upper Amazon, one of these rivers was the Juruá River. The cooperative members are dedicated to the extraction of rubber, cocoa and oils such as murmuru. Coopercintra is one of these cooperatives and initially trained 26 families in the harvesting and cultivation of wild cacao. In 2018, with the success of the cocoa harvest and its importance in the income of the people involved, 16 new families joined the Project.

• Origin: the cacao used is wildly grown in the Amazon Forest. It is not planted or farmed the way man does. It grows where nature made it appear, in the shade of ancient trees, in the floodplains of the rivers near river communities that are encouraged to maintain and protect those native cacao trees, just as the other trees in their environment. This way work opportunities are created and new income sources for men and women, improving the quality of life in those communities. The characteristics of the fruit may be different every year, and will be reflected in the chocolate of each year, according to the harvest year.

• Ingredients: wildly grown cacao, organic sugar and cacao butter. May contain traces of peanuts, milk and nuts.

• Notes: notes of flowers, lychees, pitanga and cherry, with hints of candied fruit and caramel.

• Awards: Silver International Chocolate Awards 2019 – Américas; Bronze Bean to Bar Brasil 2019; Bronze Dark Chocolate 2019 Academy of Chocolate.
• Storage: this premium chocolate must be properly conserved at a temperature of between 14 and 18 °C and kept away from direct light and sources of excessive heat or cold. If, for example, it is left in the car in summer or winter it will suffer potentially ruinous heat shock.