Chocophiles, meet Luisa Abram, one of the newest chocolate brands added to our burgeoning selection of craft chocolate. Luisa Abram is a family owned Brazilian chocolate company using beans only from Amazon rainforest. The focus is on chocolate from remote, nearly untouched areas of the Amazon.
Some of you die hard chocolate fans and Chocolate Society members may know about Luisa Abram by now, and maybe have even heard the story about the extremes we went through to import this chocolate. But it was an ordinary email exchange with Luisa’s father, Andre, that really stood out to me that I wanted to share. This snip-it provides invaluable insight into Luisa Abram’s brand and ethos as chocolate makers.
“We just came back from a visit to the families that ferment the cocoa for our red bars. They are located on the Lower Amazon Basin close to the Atlantic. We saw and heard their enthusiasm with our presence and more important, our commitment to buy the cocoa they collect in the Forest near by. The impact of this relation in their lives is palpable, meaningful. We went there to help them produce more beans and give feedback about the beans we buy and how to improve them. Their main source of income comes from the açaí trade, which is also found in the forest close by. Açai is the main crop in the region and very few families ferment cocoa, actually only 6 families, the ones we deal with.
As for the Jari bars, they come from a community that collect Brazil nuts. On their way to the trees, as a side note, they are majestic ones really tall and beautiful, they found cocoa trees as well. The trip to this origin is a tough one. The Jari river has a lot of waterfalls that make the way up very difficult. The situation of this origin is very similar to the one I described above. The more the locals can get from what the forest has to offer, the better off they become and the more protected the Forest will be!!
Next week, we are off to the Amazon again. This time we will go to the Juruá river near the border with Peru. Dan O’Doherty will join us there.” – Feb 3, 2018
There is quite frankly nothing better than this going on in the world of cacao and chocolate right now. Pure gold.
Find Luisa Abram’s chocolate here.