Cacao Products | Bulk, Wholesale, Private Label, White Label
If there is one food that is loved by most people around the world, it would be cacao—that’s because it is the basic ingredient in making chocolate. Cacao beans are gently processed to become raw cacao powder, butter and paste which in turn becomes chocolate.
What is it?
Cacao beans is the raw base for chocolate making and is the seed of the fruit from the remarkable Cacao Tree. Unfortunately most people have not yet experiences the true power of this amazing superfood as most cacao that is sold today has been heavily processed and mixed with bad fats and refined sugars. Raw Cacao is in itself is an amazing food that is full of nutrition and flavour. It is becoming increasingly popular to make Raw Chocolate using only the very best Cacao ingredients mixed with health sweeteners, such as Coconut Sugar. This is a delicious and healthy way to enjoy Cacao! The fruit of an evergreen tree, cacao thrives only in areas with a humid tropical climate. It takes as long as three to five years before its tree bears fruits called cacao pods. If we crack these pods open, it will reveal the cacao beans inside. These cacao beans can be processed in several ways.
The shell of the cacao bean is removed and then the bean is crushed to make small little pieces called nibs. Then the nibs are slowly grind to make raw cacao paste. This form of cacao paste has all its nutrients preserved because the process is very slow and at a low temperature precisely to retain its nutritional value.
The paste is then pressed which separates the cacao butter from the raw cacao powder.
One cacao tree produces approximately 1,000 beans annually. That sounds a lot for just one tree right? But as many as that sounds, that number of cacao beans is just enough to make one kilogram of chocolate!
There are several types of cocoa. The earliest known cocoa variety is called “Queen of Cacao” or Criollo. Criollo cacao has been cultivated by the Mayas for over 2,000 years even before the time of Christ. Other varieties of cacao include forastero, trinitario and our favourite variety, the Ecuadorian cacao Arriba Nacional.
What is its history?
Aside from being a cash crop, cacao residues in pottery excavated in the Honduras indicate it may have been fermented to create liquor. In fact, the Mayans used to ingest a cacao based drink during wedding rituals which gives us an insight on how romance and chocolates were linked.
The Spaniards monopolized the cacao market, keeping its production a secret from the Europeans for almost 100 years. It was only when Europeans landed in the New World that they were able to taste cacao in liquid form, the taste of which they hated at the beginning. Soon, they discovered that by heating and adding sweeteners like sugar or honey, its taste and texture greatly improved. It was even rumored that Casanova was fond of this drink. By the turn of the 17th century, this modified cacao drink became the rage all over Europe and ultimately, the whole world.
What are its nutritional content and health benefits?
Feeling sad, anxious and not in the mood? Don’t turn to synthetic medicines…eat raw dark chocolate! The higher its cacao content—the better. This isn’t just some myth you can dismiss as unscientific.
Research show that organic cacao contains theobromine that help relax the muscles and dilate blood vessels which give a person that enhanced sense of physical and mental well-being. Theobromine also releases a compound called “anandamide” which makes you feel content. Aside from this, cacao contains polyphenol—also called “bliss chemicals”—that helps release serotonin, dopamine and other neurotransmitters which improves mood and fights anxiety and depression.
Participants who joined a study on the benefits of cacao displayed significant improvements on self-related calmness, attention, memory and other cognitive functions after drinking small doses of a chocolate drink mixture for 30 days.
The phenethylamine content in cacao triggers the production of opium-like chemicals in the brain. These neurochemicals are the same ones naturally released when we fall in love or have sexual intercourse. Cacao is also one of the two foods on earth aside from blue-green algae that contains phenethylamine (PEA)
What makes our Cacao different?
Impact Foods is at the forefront when it comes to promoting products that are naturally healthy and of processing raw produce with the goal of retaining its nutritional contents.
We produce only raw cacao — no heavy processing whatsoever—in order to preserve the antioxidants and micronutrients which are typically lost in over-processed cacao. Because of this, we are sure our customers receive the utmost benefits one can get from this superfood.
Use our organic raw cacao powder in to make an inexhaustible list of desserts, healthy sweets and snacks. It can make bland food taste rich. Cacao beans can even be eaten on its own—it isn’t called “the food of the gods” for nothing!