Caroline's love of the rainforest and her desire to find solutions that help preserve native forests is at the foundation of Teeccino's creation. In the beginning of the 90's, Caroline was traveling extensively to rainforest communities in Central America. Her skills in the growth and export of herbs and the development of herbal products have been used to help native people determine which herbs and natural products could be grown sustainably in their local rainforests.

Teeccino's Vanilla Nut was originally created to use Mexican Vanilla grown as a rainforest crop by indigenous communities in Southern Mexico. Caroline created Rainforest Tea for The Republic of Tea using allspice leaves from trees that grow wild in the Sierra Santa Marta rainforest in Veracruz, Mexico. With Natural Nectar, Caroline marketed Rainforest Honey using honey from hives harvested by Maya communities in the Calakmul Biosphere Reserve in the Yucatan.

Caroline’s latest creation, the Teeccino Organic Maya Herbal Coffee line, has opened a new chapter in the Company’s involvement in rainforest preservation. Featuring ramon nuts, a nutrient-rich food of the Maya civilization that fall from 120 ft. tall trees throughout the Maya Biosphere Reserve, the Company has had to develop a commercial supply of the nuts along with ForesTrade, a company that specializes in developing organic ingredients from Guatemala and Indonesia. Ramon nuts, also called ojoché, breadnuts, or mayanuts, have had no commercial value since the collapse of the Maya civilization and the Conquest of Mesoamerica by the Spaniards in the 16^th century.

Teeccino is dedicated to supporting programs that benefit both the preservation of the rainforest and alleviating poverty in the rural communities of the Maya Biosphere Reserve. 1% of sales of Teeccino Organic Maya Herbal Coffees is being donated to two foundations that work locally in Guatemala, Belize, and Mexico:

The Equilibrium Fund: Creates income sources for rural women through educational programs teaching about the sustainable harvest and use of nutritious ramon nuts. Founded by Erika Vohman, the Equilibrium Fund runs women’s educational programs in Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and Mexico. Programs are designed to help women start small businesses using ramon nuts to create and market nutritious food products. Their programs address the key factors for creating sustainable livelihoods: sociocultural, environmental and economic.

The Maya Alliance: Supports traditional Maya horticulturalists in the restoration of the garden city of El Pilar, an ancient Maya city that straddles the border of Belize and Guatemala . The project is headed by UC Santa Barbara archeologist, Anabel Ford, who has worked with the government of Belize to create a management plan for El Pilar that includes the preservation of the forest canopy to protect the ancient Maya buildings.

Teeccino Caffé is a small company, but even a small company can contribute to projects that help others improve their lives. Sometimes you wonder if whatever you do, being such a small drop in the vast ocean of needs, could possibly make a difference? It is our philosophy that if everyone takes that small action to serve others, then together we can all make a big enough difference.