Pre-processed in Yanomami and Ye'kwana indigenous communities, the cocoa beans in this chocolate bar represent more than the richness of biodiversity and the history of our country's lands. They show, above all, the importance of this cultivation as a counterpoint to the devastation of illegal gold mining, which is destroying the forest, contaminating the rivers and consequently the surrounding families.  

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“Cocoa is the fruit of our forest and a cry of resistance against the invasions that Indigenous Lands suffer daily in Brazil”, says Dário Yanomami, vice president of the Hutukara Associação Yanomami.

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The joint work between César De Mendes and the Yanomami and Ye'kwana people was carried out with the partnership of the ATÁ Institute and the support of the  Instituto Socioambiental (ISA) , which was looking for someone who understood the particularities of the cocoa variety found in the Yanomami Indigenous Land. For this, César was invited to hold a workshop in the Waikás community, produced by the Wanasseduume Ye'kwana Association, in which Yanomami and Ye'kwana participants helped produce their first chocolate bar.

This work in partnership with the Yanomami and Ye'kwana influenced not only the taste of chocolate, but also César's worldview. “They have a very different way of looking at life, which ends up being translated into the flavor of the chocolate itself. The Yanomami and Ye'kwana are very respectful, sensitive, humble and humanitarian. They do everything as a group”, said César, remembering his first contact with the indigenous people in an affectionate and affectionate way.  

And this is just one of the many lessons that César learned in the interaction and coexistence with these peoples. “We all have to learn from this posture, attitude and example of cooperation, solidarity and looking at the other. They work with a sense of empathy,” he said.

Unfortunately, communities are increasingly suffering from the impacts of the invasion of illegal gold mining. Faced with this enormous challenge, the Yanomami-Ye'kwana Chocolate is an initiative to fight for the conservation of forests in the Yanomami Indigenous Land, covering 9.6 million hectares, focusing on the Uraricoera region heavily affected by the mining invasion and its devastation.

Yanomami-Ye'kwana Chocolate values the ancestral knowledge of these two peoples and generates income for about 10  communities living on the banks of the Uraricoera and Toototobi rivers, directly threatened by illegal gold mining.  

This bar is extremely tasty, presents a delicate and prolonged almond candy, reminiscent of fresh bananas and chocolate flavor. Yanomami-Ye'kwana Chocolate is balanced and has a texture that allows slow distribution in the mouth. “Certainly one of the greatest sensorial experiences of my life”, César comments when telling about all the preparation for the launch of the bar.