Iconic Product
MACAMBO – CANOPY BRIDGE
Ecuador is special in many ways. No other country packs such staggering diversity into such a small territory. It is the only nation on Earth that is home to both the lush Chocó forests of the northwest and the dry Tumbesian forests of the south, to the vast Amazon basin and the windswept páramos of the high Andes. This wealth of ecosystems has only begun to be tapped by the country’s restaurants, chefs, and food innovators, who are turning biodiversity into inspiration. Among the most exciting discoveries in this renaissance is macambo.
A close cousin of cacao, Theobroma bicolor has long hidden in the shadows of its more famous relative. Yet this white nut, encased in a large pod, is unlike anything else: dense in nutrients, with a uniquely crisp texture. Lightly toasted, macambo becomes a versatile delight—savory as a snack, rich when covered in chocolate or praline. Its flavor recalls cashew, almond, and pistachio, with subtle notes of melon and butter.
Nutritionally, macambo is a powerhouse. Just 30 grams provide 10% of an adult’s daily protein needs, with less than half the fat of almonds, walnuts, or cashews. It is filling, satisfying, and healthy—qualities that have caught the attention of chefs and chocolatiers in Ecuador and beyond.
But macambo is more than flavor and nutrition. It is also a story of resilience, culture, and livelihoods. Canopy Bridge, the organization behind its revival, works with more than 450 Indigenous farmers in the Ecuadorian Amazon who cultivate macambo in their traditional chakras (forest gardens). Ninety percent of these growers are women, and for them, macambo is not just food but empowerment. Income from its sale is often reinvested in health, education, and family well-being.
Canopy Bridge functions as a kind of laboratory of biodiversity, identifying and developing native products—from Amazonian fruits to Andean tubers—that can both expand the frontiers of gastronomy and provide reasons for local communities to protect their spectacular, fragile ecosystems. By connecting farmers to chefs, markets, and consumers, they give value to Ecuador’s megadiversity in the most tangible way possible: through taste.
That is why, in this first edition of SUMMUM Ecuador, the Embematic Product prize is awarded to Canopy Bridge for their work with macambo.
