Where Maya Moon Cacao Begins The Village The Women, The Story

This is the real story of how Maya Moon Cacao began. Not a business plan. Not a brand strategy. A conversation between two sisters in San Marcos La Laguna, Lake Atitlán, Guatemala and one moment when Maura looked at Lisa and said: your work is not being valued. Let's build something of our own. In 2019, Lisa was making ceremonial cacao for a company. Peeling cacao beans one by one. Fire-roasting. Stone-grinding. Real ancestral work being paid unfairly for it. Maura sat next to her and started peeling cacao alongside her. She watched how much time it takes to peel a single cacao bean by hand. She asked Lisa how much she was earning. They sat down together and looked at the numbers. That conversation changed everything. Lisa told Maura: I want to do this. But only if you stand by my side. That is how Maya Moon Cacao was born. Today, 15 Kaqchikel Maya single mothers work with Maya Moon Cacao in San Marcos La Laguna. Women who are also mothers — who cannot leave their children to work in hotels or restaurants. Working with ceremonial cacao allows them to bring their children with them. To earn income every month. To value their own work. 195 Q'eqchi' families in Cahabón, Alta Verapaz grow the native Criollo cacao beans that become Maya Moon ceremonial cacao paste. Those cacao beans are fermented in banana leaves for 6 to 8 days, sun-dried for a week, then travel 14 hours across Guatemala to San Marcos La Laguna where Kaqchikel Maya women stone-grind them into ceremonial grade cacao paste. Fire-roasted. Hand-peeled. Small batch. Every order made fresh. When you buy Maya Moon Cacao, the money goes directly to these women and these families. Not to intermediaries. Not to a Western wellness brand. To the hands that make it. Maya Moon Cacao is a Founding Licensee of Certified Ceremonial Cacao® the first legally registered ceremonial grade cacao certification in the world. The only certification that verifies ceremonial cacao stays connected to the indigenous communities that created it. This is not appropriation. This is the source. Two sisters. Fifteen single mothers. 195 farming families. Six years of ceremonial grade cacao made with indigenous knowledge, ancestral process, and dignity. This is Maya Moon Cacao. 🌙 Shop ceremonial cacao: mayamooncacao.com 🌙 TikTok: @mayamooncacao 🌙 Instagram: @mayamooncacao ABOUT MAYA MOON CACAO: Women-led, indigenous-owned ceremonial cacao brand based in San Marcos La Laguna, Lake Atitlán, Guatemala. Every batch of ceremonial cacao paste is made by Kaqchikel Maya women using ancestral stone-grinding techniques. Working directly with 195 Q'eqchi' farming families in Cahabón, Alta Verapaz. No intermediaries. Certified Ceremonial Cacao® Founding Licensee since 2019. ceremonial cacao paste, ceremonial grade cacao, cacao beans banana leaves, mayan cacao, cacao ceremony, stone ground cacao, fire roasted cacao, indigenous cacao Guatemala, Lake Atitlán Guatemala, San Marcos La Laguna, Kaqchikel Maya women, certified ceremonial cacao, cacao vs cocoa, coffee alternative, morning ritual cacao, women led business Guatemala, fair trade cacao, direct trade cacao, single mothers Guatemala, indigenous women empowerment #CeremonialCacaoPaste #CeremonialGradeCacao #CacaoBeansBananaLeaves #MayanCacao #CacaoCeremony #StoneGround #FireRoasted #Guatemala #SanMarcosLaLaguna #LakeAtitlan #KaqchikelMaya #IndigenousWomen #CertifiedCeremonialCacao #WomenLed #SingleMothers #MorningRitual #CoffeeAlternative #CocoaVsCacao #DirectTrade #IXCacao