Sustainability, Equality and 

the Spirit of Cacao

The Chocolate Museum hosts Mathilde Grand of Finca Tranquila and Citizens of Chocolate, Panama. She will take us on a journey into the Spirit of Cacao, sustainable cacao production, and the struggles and empowerment of indigenous women in Panama.

The Chocolate Museum is proud to announce a special event in collaboration with Mathilde Grand, the managing director of Finca Tranquila, the endowment dedicated to rainforest farming and cacao production in Panama, and the founder/administrator of Citizens Of Chocolate, a collective dedicated to the economic empowering of indigenous women through cacao production.

On Friday the 20th of May, Mathilde will be giving talk at The Chocolate Museum in Brixton, in order to introduce professional chocolatiers, bean-to-bar makers and chocolate lovers alike to her work and to that of Panamanian artist Achu De Leon Kantule. After 16 years working in the field of cacao and human development with indigenous community in Panama, Mathilde has acquired an extended expertise about cacao production and the challenges small cacao producers face, especially women which have to fit both the role of farmers and head of household. In her talk Mathilde will demonstrate how integrated agriculture in the rainforest is the best solution for the preservation of the environment as well as for the economic development of its inhabitants. Cacao, the “poster boy” crop, encompasses biodiversity and human development.

But cacao is also a mystical crop for the natives populations of Central and South America, as a particular indigenous cosmogony that has transcended time can testify to. Mathilde's talk will thus be enriched by a journey into the work of Panamanian contemporary visual artist Achu De Leon Kantule and his series of paintings about The Spirits Of Cacao.

Seats are limited. Please RSVP by emailing us at info@thechocolatemuseum.co.uk