The Story of awanima

From our founder, Mackenzie Barth

Since moving to Guatemala in 2019, cacao quickly became a beloved morning ritual. It uplifts my spirit, gives me a gentle energetic boost, and I feel more loving and soft with cacao as my companion. 

One day, it dawned on me that while I had a relationship with my daily cup of cacao, I actually knew very little about the process behind it. I couldn’t believe I’d never even met the tree! This brought me on a journey to discover how cacao grows, who tends and processes it, and how it transforms from a plant into a delicious beverage. 

I learned that so much work goes into transforming cacao from seed to block; it requires an immense amount of care, human energy, and thoughtful coordination. Chocolate is a beautiful result of human dedication and cooperation. 

But I also saw how easy it is to cut corners in cacao production in the name of “efficiency” and “consistency,” – often at the cost of integrity. Many ceremonial cacao brands claim to be ‘ethical’ and ‘fair trade’ without knowing the farmers or the conditions the cacao is grown in. Many claim to use ‘ancestral techniques’ but still toast the cacao in an industrial, gas-powered oven instead of the beautiful, original way of using firewood and a clay comal. 

To me cacao is much more than a drink—it’s a teacher, a healer, and a bridge between worlds. I consider cacao as a companion for humanity’s evolution and a catalyst for regeneration. Because of this, it’s essential to take care of how it’s treated, from the seed to the block.

I felt that if I was going to continue drinking cacao and sharing it with the world, I needed to be part of the process to ensure its integrity. This is what led me to take on stewardship of Tuqtuquilal, a project that’s dedicated to nurturing longstanding relationships with family farmers and taking care of the cacao at every production phase. Why? Because every step really matters. The more care put into the process, the more love you receive from it when you consume it. It’s all energy – and to maintain the highest integrity of the energy, medicine, and potency of cacao, we need to process it as close to the original ways as possible, in relationship with the ancestral stewards of this plant and the lands it grows in. Tuqtuquilal now supplies the majority of ingredients at AWANIMA because I know and am in relationship with the families, lands, and processes where this food emerges. 

But the story doesn’t end there. AWANIMA exists to build bridges between other projects and families who are tending their ancestral lands and respecting food as medicine, helping them earn dignified wages while sharing these gifts with those in the North, who are severely disconnected from their food and in need of the forest’s medicine. Guided by the Earth’s wisdom, the circular ecosystem of AWANIMA was born.

This work is a small experiment to see how we can make that dream happen — on a path of humility and devotion: to learn from the land, to listen to those who protect it, and to share their medicine with those who need it. Thank you for your support. We’re all in this together!