Why We Choose Organic, Fair Trade Cacao (Plus Our Spiced Cacao Recipe)

Cacao and cocoa come from the exact same tree, even the same bean. So how can one taste bright, fruity, and almost wine-like, while the other tastes like a warm mug of hot chocolate? It turns out almost all of the difference happens after the pod is cut open.

When we developed the Cacao Coconut flavor of our All Day Granola, we spent more time choosing the cacao than almost any other ingredient in the bag. It turned into a crash course in how the bean is processed, how it's farmed, and who farms it. Here's what we learned, and why we landed on cacao that's certified organic and certified fair trade.

Cacao vs cocoa: same tree, different handling

Both come from the pods of Theobroma cacao, a tropical tree that grows in a narrow band around the equator. The beans are scooped out, fermented, and dried. After that, the paths split.

Cacao usually means beans that are processed at lower temperatures and kept closer to their natural state. Cacao powder and cacao nibs taste deeper and a little fruity, with a pleasant bitterness. Gentler processing tends to keep more of the bean's natural antioxidants, called flavanols.

Cocoa usually means beans roasted at higher heat. Many cocoa powders are also "Dutch processed," or treated with an alkali to mellow the flavor and darken the color. That makes a smoother, milder powder, but alkalizing can strip out a large share of those flavanols.

"Cacao" isn't a regulated term, and "raw" is a loose one, since fermentation itself warms the beans. How the beans were grown and handled tells you more than the label does.

Why the same bean can taste so different

A fresh cacao bean is bitter, astringent, and doesn't taste much like chocolate at all. Nearly all of that familiar flavor is created by people, in a few steps:

1. Fermentation. The beans sit in their sweet white pulp for several days while wild yeasts and bacteria go to work. This creates the flavor building blocks behind the fruity, floral, and winey notes, and tames some of the raw bitterness.
2. Drying. Beans dry in the sun, which locks in those flavors and keeps them from spoiling.
3. Heat. Roasting at higher temperatures triggers browning reactions, the same chemistry that browns bread crust and toasts nuts. That's where the deep, roasty "chocolate" flavor comes from. Gentler heat keeps more of the bean's bright, fruity side.
4. Alkalizing. Dutch processing neutralizes the bean's natural acidity. It mellows the flavor dramatically and darkens the color.

Think of cacao and cocoa as two points on a spectrum, from "closer to the bean" to "fully roasted and mellowed." Where a powder lands on that spectrum shapes its flavor, color, and how it behaves in your kitchen.

So what are flavanols?

Flavanols are natural plant compounds, part of the larger polyphenol family that also gives color and bite to things like tea, apples, grapes, and berries. Cacao happens to be one of the richest sources around. The main ones in cacao are called epicatechin and catechin, plus longer chains of them called procyanidins.

Flavanols are also a big reason raw cacao tastes bitter and makes your mouth feel dry. Every step that softens that bitterness, especially high roasting and alkalizing, also breaks down flavanols. The milder and darker a powder tastes, the fewer flavanols it usually has left.

How much heat does it take? In a study from Hershey's research center, beans started losing epicatechin, the flavanol researchers watch most closely, once they reached about 158°F (70°C). Roasting at 248°F (120°C) cut epicatechin by up to 88%, and Dutch processing removed up to 98%. Time matters too: another study found that a hard roast of 320°F (160°C) for 30 minutes dropped epicatechin by 68% in one type of bean, and recommended staying under 284°F (140°C) to keep most of the original flavanols. Baking with baking soda lowers them as well, because the soda makes the batter more alkaline, a bit like Dutch processing in your own kitchen.

Researchers are interested in flavanols mainly for how they may support healthy blood vessels and blood flow. That research is still developing, and most of it uses concentrated extracts rather than everyday chocolate (more on that below).

Sources: Hershey processing study (Phys.org) · Roasting temperature study (Confectionery News)

What's actually good about cacao

Cacao powder brings real nutrition along with its flavor. Some of the health claims you see online run well ahead of the science, so here's what the research supports.

Keep in mind:

• The big flavanol study used a concentrated supplement, at doses you couldn't realistically get from food without a lot of extra sugar and fat.
• The FDA allows only a narrow, qualified heart-health claim, for special high-flavanol cocoa powder, and describes the evidence as "very limited." It doesn't apply to regular cocoa powder or chocolate.
• Chocolate bars and sweetened treats come with sugar and fat that offset much of the upside.
• Baking and other high heat reduce flavanols, so a baked good isn't a flavanol supplement.

Cacao is a nutritious whole-food ingredient that happens to taste wonderful. That's reason enough to enjoy it.

Sources: COSMOS trial (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, via PubMed) · FDA qualified health claim for cocoa flavanols (Food Processing)

Why organic

Cacao trees are fussy. Grown in tight, sun-baked rows, they're prone to pests and fungal disease, so conventional farms often lean on synthetic pesticides and fungicides. Those sprays affect the soil, the water nearby, and the farmers who apply them, often without much protective gear.

Certified organic cacao is grown without synthetic pesticides or fertilizers. Many organic farms grow cacao the way it grows in the wild: under a canopy of taller shade trees, mixed in with bananas, fruit trees, and timber. As people who think a lot about food forests here on our own mountain, that picture makes a lot of sense to us. A diverse, layered farm can have less pest damage, and it's more resilient for the family that depends on it.

Organic certification covers how the crop is grown. It doesn't cover things like naturally occurring minerals in the soil, so knowing your source still matters.

Why fair trade

Most of the world's cacao is grown on small family farms, many just a few acres, and more than half comes from just two West African countries, Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana. Ours is grown in South America. For decades, the price farmers get has swung with the global market. Many cacao-growing families still live in poverty, and child labor remains a serious problem. A 2020 University of Chicago study estimated that 1.56 million children were working in cocoa in Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana alone.

Fair trade certification is one way to push back on that. In general, fair trade programs:

• Set a minimum price, so farmers aren't wiped out when the market drops
• Pay an extra premium that farming communities decide how to spend, often on schools, clean water, or better equipment
• Prohibit forced and exploitative child labor, and audit for it
• Encourage farmer co-ops, which give small growers more bargaining power

No single label can fix an entire industry. Fair trade is a real, checkable step, and it means more of what you pay reaches the farmers who did the hardest part of the work.

We're a small-batch kitchen in North Idaho. We know what it means to grow food by hand and hope the season pays off. It feels right to buy from farmers who are treated the way we'd want to be.

Baking with cacao vs cocoa

You can bake with all of these, but each one behaves a little differently.

Measuring

• Swap powders one for one by volume. A tablespoon of cacao replaces a tablespoon of natural cocoa.
• Weigh when you can. Powders pack differently depending on how you scoop, so a kitchen scale gives the most consistent results.
• Sift first. Cacao powder tends to clump more than cocoa, and lumps don't always bake out.
• Nibs aren't a powder substitute. Use them like chocolate chips or chopped nuts, not as a replacement for powder.

Swapping in recipes

• Cacao for natural cocoa: a straight swap. Both are acidic, so the leavening still works the same.
• Cacao or natural cocoa for Dutch-processed: if the recipe uses only baking powder, a common rule of thumb is to add 1/8 teaspoon of baking soda for every 3 tablespoons of powder to balance the extra acidity.
• Dutch-processed for cacao or natural cocoa: if the recipe relies on baking soda, Dutch cocoa won't give it the acid it needs. Add 1/8 teaspoon of cream of tartar, lemon juice, or vinegar for every 3 tablespoons to restore some acidity, or stick with the type the recipe calls for.

Flavor tips

• Taste your batter. Cacao is more bitter than cocoa, so you may want a touch more sweetener, or a pinch more salt to round it out.
• Bloom it. Whisk the powder into hot coffee, water, or melted butter before adding it. This deepens the chocolate flavor noticeably.
• Lean into pairings. Cacao's fruity side loves cinnamon, coconut, orange, and vanilla.

Best ways to get your cacao benefits

If you want to keep as many flavanols as possible, the rules are simple: start with cacao or natural cocoa, keep the heat low, and skip the baking soda.

• Stir it into cold or no-cook foods. Smoothies, overnight oats, yogurt, chia pudding, and energy bites all work well.
• Keep warm drinks below a simmer. Flavanols break down faster as liquids get hotter, so aim for steaming, not bubbling.
• Add it at the end. When stirring cacao into warm oatmeal, take the pot off the heat first.
• Pass on Dutch-processed when the goal is flavanols, since alkalizing removes the most.

Our spiced sipping cacao

This is how we make ours on cold mornings up the mountain. The spices make it taste rich without much sweetener, and the cayenne adds a gentle warmth at the end.

Makes 1 mug

• 1 cup milk of your choice
• 1 to 2 tablespoons cacao powder
• 1 scoop grassfed beef collagen
• 1/4 teaspoon Ceylon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
• Pinch of nutmeg
• Pinch of cardamom
• Tiny pinch of cayenne pepper
• 1 to 2 teaspoons maple syrup or honey, to taste
• Splash of vanilla and a pinch of salt (optional)

1. In your mug, whisk the cacao and spices with 2 tablespoons of warm water into a smooth paste. This blooms the flavor without high heat.
2. Warm the milk gently over low heat until it's steaming and small bubbles form at the edges, about 150°F (65°C) if you have a thermometer. Don't let it simmer.
3. Pour the milk into the mug, whisking as you go. Add the collagen and whisk or froth until it dissolves; a frother also gives you a foamy top.
4. Sweeten to taste, add vanilla and salt if you like, and start with less cayenne than you think. You can always add more.

What this means for our Cacao Coconut granola

Our Cacao Coconut All Day Granola is made with cacao powder that's certified organic and certified fair trade, grown by farmers in South America. We pair it with crisp coconut ribbons, organic sprouted oats, and maple, baked low and slow in small batches. Because it's baked, we don't sell it as a flavanol source. We chose cacao for its flavor and for how it's grown.

The result is a granola with real chocolate depth that still feels like breakfast. It's the one we reach for on a snowy morning in our cabin, or by the handful halfway up a trail.

So, cacao vs cocoa? Both have their place. We chose cacao for the flavor, and organic and fair trade because of the people and land behind it.

Try it: Cacao Coconut Granola is available in our 6-packs and 12-packs, and in our holiday gift boxes.

Cacao vs cocoa FAQ

Is cacao healthier than cocoa? Cacao is generally processed more gently, so it tends to keep more of its natural flavanols. Dutch-processed cocoa loses the most. Both are still whole-food ingredients, and how much sugar comes along with them matters too.

Can I substitute cacao powder for cocoa powder? Usually, yes, one for one by volume. The exception is recipes written for Dutch-processed cocoa, where the leavening may need a small adjustment (see the baking section above). Expect a bolder, slightly more bitter flavor.

Is cacao the same as chocolate? No. Chocolate is made from cacao, plus cocoa butter and usually sugar. Cacao powder is the bean with most of the fat pressed out.

What's the difference between cacao nibs and cacao powder? Nibs are crushed pieces of the dried bean, crunchy and intensely chocolatey. Powder is the bean ground fine after most of the cocoa butter is removed.

Is raw cacao really raw? Not strictly. Beans warm up naturally during fermentation, and "raw" isn't a regulated term. It usually just means lower-temperature processing.