🚩Our Red Flags: The Questions Nobody Asks at a Cacao Ceremony.

This article is for everyone who participates in cacao circles, ceremonies, and holistic or spiritual practices involving cacao.

If cacao is truly at the heart of the experience, there are questions you have every right to ask the person facilitating it.

Today, cacao is used in many different ways within holistic and spiritual communities. Some of these practices can be seen as genuine forms of cultural and spiritual syncretism, bringing together traditions, beliefs, and contemporary approaches.

From our perspective, some are thoughtful, respectful, and deeply genuine. Others raise important questions about authenticity, responsibility, and integrity.

But there is one question that too often remains unanswered:

🤎 What cacao are you actually being served?

Over the years, we have witnessed very different approaches.

Facilitators, including some who openly identify as shamans, speaking about "Cacao Medicine" while serving cacao with little or no traceability, questionable quality, or an unclear supply chain.

Sometimes it is cacao brought back in a suitcase, without verifiable import procedures or food safety guarantees. Other times, it is simply purchased from large international suppliers, with little understanding of its actual origin or production.

As though being labelled "100% cacao paste" were enough to make a product suitable for ceremonial use.

But not all cacao is the same. And not all cacao can or should be treated as interchangeable.

🌿 Who grows it matters. Who processes it matters. How it is produced, under what working conditions, with what intentions, and at what price it is purchased from producers all matter.

And so does the supply chain we choose to support.

Because we cannot speak about honouring cacao as a sacred plant or a "heart-opening medicine" while overlooking the people, communities, and territories that make its existence possible.

This is where we see a fundamental contradiction.

Using cacao to add spiritual and commercial value to a holistic experience, while failing to question whether the supply chain behind that cacao is socially, economically, and environmentally sustainable.

Cacao has unfortunately become a trend for many.

For us, it is not. 🤎

It represents years of relationships, work, responsibility, and commitment to preserving cacao, supporting the people who cultivate it, and maintaining a meaningful connection with its Mesoamerican roots.

But that is another conversation, and one we will return to.

🚩 Here's our ref flags:

 1. Does the cacao you're drinking really have a story?

If cacao is at the centre of a ceremony, ritual, or spiritual gathering, knowing where it comes from should not be considered an optional detail.

You have every right to ask your facilitator about it.

A beautiful story, spiritual language, or an inspiring ceremony does not automatically guarantee a responsibly sourced product.

The experience may be meaningful. But what about the cacao itself?

2. Where does it actually come from?

Simply mentioning the country of origin is no longer enough. And thankfully, expectations are changing.

Do we know the specific region? The farm, cooperative, or community of producers who cultivated it?

Can its origin be verified beyond a generic geographical label?

"From Guatemala", "from Peru", or "from the Amazon" is a starting point, not the whole story.

A genuinely traceable cacao should allow us to understand where it was grown and who was involved in producing it.

3. Who processed it, how, and under what conditions?

Was the cacao processed in its country of origin, or somewhere else?

By whom? Using which methods and equipment?

Under appropriate food safety and hygiene conditions?

With what level of technical knowledge and experience?

These are not minor details.

Processing cacao requires expertise, suitable equipment, and adequate food safety standards, regardless of whether production takes place in a small workshop or a larger facility.

Good intentions do not replace technical competence or food safety.

If those selling or facilitating with cacao cannot answer these questions, they may simply lack the information needed to verify its quality and safety.

And that, in itself, is worth questioning.

4. How did that cacao actually reach your cup?

Through a declared, traceable, and documented supply chain?

Or was it purchased during a trip, brought back in someone's luggage, and later distributed or sold without a verifiable commercial import process?

Was it sourced from a specialised producer, or simply purchased as ordinary industrial cacao paste and rebranded as "ceremonial cacao"?

Could it even be a heavily processed or alkalised cacao product sold through a health food store?

🚩 A spiritual label does not automatically make a product traceable, safe, ethical, or suitable for ceremonial use.

Import procedures, food safety requirements, and commercial accountability exist for reasons.

They are not obstacles to authenticity. They are part of responsible food production and distribution.

5. Are the people who cultivated the cacao visible in its story?

Who are the farmers and producers behind it?

Do they have names, faces, and voices?

Is there a genuine relationship with them, or are their images and stories being used mainly as marketing tools?

Does the brand or facilitator speak about the communities and people behind the cacao, or only about its supposed spiritual effects?

We believe there is a meaningful difference between telling a story about producers and building a relationship that actually supports them.

Not every producer needs to appear publicly, and privacy should always be respected. But a responsible supply chain should be able to provide credible information about the people and organisations involved.

🚩 If no one can explain who produced the cacao or how the relationship works, that is a question worth asking.

6. Do we know how much was paid for the cacao at origin?

Calling cacao "fairly traded" is not enough.

Fair according to whom? Compared to what? And how is that claim supported?

Does the price paid genuinely recognise the quality of the cacao, the labour involved, and the challenges farmers face?

We are not suggesting that a higher price automatically guarantees an ethical supply chain. It does not.

But transparency around purchasing practices is far more meaningful than simply using the word "fair".

When cacao is sold at an unusually low price, it is reasonable to question how value is distributed along the supply chain.

And there is another issue we cannot ignore: the future of cacao itself.

Climate change, crop diseases, declining productivity, and increasingly unpredictable growing conditions are putting enormous pressure on cacao-producing regions.

Supporting quality-driven, responsible cacao production means recognising the need for investment in farming knowledge, technical assistance, agroforestry systems, and long-term resilience.

If we want exceptional cacao to exist in the future, we need to support the people and agricultural systems that make it possible today.

So the question is also personal:

How much are we genuinely willing to contribute to a more sustainable cacao economy?

7. Is there concrete information about its quality?

Origin. Harvest. Fermentation. Drying. Processing.

Was it produced in small batches or at industrial scale?

How was it roasted? Was it alkalised? Who carried out the processing?

These are straightforward questions, yet surprisingly often they remain unanswered.

And there is something else worth addressing.

Organic certification alone does not tell the whole story.

An organic label can provide valuable information about compliance with specific agricultural and production standards. But it does not automatically guarantee direct trade, better producer prices, exceptional quality, artisanal processing, or a meaningful relationship with cacao-growing communities.

Even a product labelled 100% organic cacao may undergo industrial processing, including alkalisation, depending on the product and applicable certification rules.

Alkalisation can significantly reduce naturally occurring cocoa flavanols and other polyphenols, depending on the process used.

This is why understanding how cacao has been processed matters just as much as understanding where it comes from.

Organic can be a positive attribute. But it should never be mistaken for the complete definition of quality, ethics, or authenticity.

8. Can its story be told clearly, even in the simplest cacao circle?

We believe that anyone choosing to work with cacao, particularly when presenting it as a sacred plant or a form of plant medicine, takes on a responsibility.

Not necessarily to know every technical detail by heart, but to make informed choices and be able to explain them.

A facilitator does not need to be a cacao farmer, chocolate maker, or international trade expert.

But they should know what they are serving, why they have chosen it, and who stands behind it.

And participants should feel comfortable asking questions without being made to feel that doing so somehow diminishes the spiritual experience.

Quite the opposite.

Knowledge can deepen respect.

And transparency can make the experience more meaningful.

9. Before asking "What energy does this cacao carry?", try asking something else.

- Where does it come from?

- Who cultivated and processed it?

- How did it reach my cup?

- Am I supporting a real supply chain connected to its origin, or simply buying into spiritual marketing?

- Is this a genuinely responsible cacao project, or a mass-produced commodity wrapped in an appealing story?

We believe that the sacredness attributed to cacao should never be used to avoid questions about traceability, production, and responsibility.

Nor should a brief visit to a cacao-growing country automatically be presented as evidence of a deep connection with its people and agricultural traditions.

Genuine relationships require time, continuity, mutual respect, and commitment.

Visiting an origin unfortunately, is not the same as building a cacao project short supply chain. 

And romanticising cacao-producing communities is not the same as supporting them.

A genuine connection with cacao's origins should make transparency more important, not less.

🤎 Consciousness Should Also Inform Our Choices

If you participate in a cacao circle or ceremony, we encourage you to ask a few simple questions:

• Why was this particular cacao chosen for ceremonial use?

• Who cultivated it, and what values guide its production?

• Who processed it, and under what working and food safety conditions?

• How was it sourced, imported, and distributed?

• What kind of supply chain am I supporting by drinking it?

• Are the claims about its origin, quality, and ethical practices supported by real information?

Because this, too, is part of consciousness.

Making informed choices can contribute to meaningful change in the cacao sector, helping support projects and supply chains that genuinely invest in people, agricultural resilience, quality, and long-term sustainability.

We are not claiming to have all the answers.

Nor do we believe that every small producer must hold expensive certifications or operate through the same commercial model.

The cacao world is complex. Agricultural, economic, environmental, cultural, and social realities are deeply interconnected, and there are no simplistic solutions.

But we do believe that people deserve better information, and that those who work with cacao have a responsibility to ask better questions.

Our intention is not to tell you what to believe, or how to experience cacao.

It is to give you the tools to question, understand, and choose more consciously.

Because before speaking about cacao as medicine, we should also be willing to speak about social justice, economic sustainability, environmental responsibility, and the people whose livelihoods depend on this extraordinary plant.

Traceability is not just a bureaucratic detail. It is an act of respect.

And if cacao is truly about connection, perhaps that connection should begin with the people and the land from which it comes.

🤎

Have questions or would you like to explore this conversation further? We'd love to hear from you.

Write to us at hello@vaicacao.com, or find us on Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn.

Elisa & Juanra — Founders at VAICACAO