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Chocolate & Cacao

Every year the volume of cacao sold to the United States increases.  More and more people are consuming cacao and chocolate than ever before.  Many people are surprised at the nutrients it contains such as vitamin C, fiber and iron.  Are you surprised?  You may be even more surprised to find that raw Cacao contains more antioxidant flavonoids than red wine, green tea and blueberries.

All Wilderness Family Naturals USDA Certified Organic Cacao is from Peru.

Raw Cacao Ingredients Picture

Raw Cacao Ingredients

These chocolate ingredients are conveniently packaged for the conscientious cook who wants to use quality chocolate in his/her creations.  Choose from Raw Cacao Powder or Cacao Nibs.  Every ingredient is organic!

Raw Chocolate Foods Picture

Raw Chocolate Foods

These foods are created by combining Wilderness Family Naturals' Raw Cacao Powder with a natural sweetener.  They include items such as Raw, Organic Chocolate Syrup (made from raw agave and raw cacao powder), Hot Chocolate (made from powdered coconut milk, raw cacao and evaporated coconut water/coconut sugar), Cocoa Nutté, a delicious organic chocolate-hazelnut butter and "Coco-Loco," made from ground coconut, raw cacao and raw agave.  WFN even has a raw snack bar made with raw cacao, organic coconut and ground almonds sweetened by raw agave.


More information about Chocolate

Raw Cacao Nibs Chocolate originates from the bean (or seed) of a tree that grows in tropical areas of the world. This tree is called a Cacao tree and is predominately found in countries within 10-20 degrees latitude of the equator. The trees need warm, humid weather and loose, rich soil. They like shaded sunlight. Since cacao trees prefer shade, banana trees, rubber trees or coconut palms are often planted beside the cacao tree in the orchards.

Raw Cacao Nibs The Cacao tree forms large seed pods. Inside the pods are the beans (or seeds) which eventually become the basis for chocolate. It takes 5-6 months for the cacao pods to develop. The trees are generally harvested twice a year, but can be harvested any time.


Raw Cacao Nibs To harvest, the pods are first cut off from the tree with a machete. Each pod is opened and the beans are separated from the fibers of the pod. These beans are then laid on a flat surface, covered with banana leaves and allowed to ferment. As the seeds ferment they go from a light off-white color to a purplish color and finally turn dark brown. During this process they also become wrinkled. The fermentation process takes 2-3 days.



Once fermentation is complete, these whole cacao beans are dried to a moisture content of approximately 1%. The drying of the bean greatly retards fermentation and lowers the microbial count. Once dried, these beans are ready for shipment as whole beans unless they undergo further processing to create cacao nibs, or cacao powder and cacao butter.


Raw Cacao Nibs Whole beans require pealing by the consumer before they can be eaten. The outside "hull" is similar to the shell of a peanut and can easily be removed.

How Cacao Nibs are Made:

To create cacao nibs, the whole, dried beans are placed into a machine that runs a "roller" across them. This breaks up the bean and cracks the thin shell. The chaff is then removed leaving only the broken cacao bean, which is called a nib. These delicious cacao nibs do not contain any dairy, sugar, or additives. They are simply the raw, broken cacao bean that has had the outer shell removed. Many people use these nibs in smoothies. They can, also, be added to bars, cookies, yogurt, granola and trail mixes for a natural chocolate crunch. Some people use them like chocolate chips to decorate desserts!

How Our Cacao Powder and Cacao Butter are Made:

Once the cacao nib has been produced, if cacao powder and cacao butter are desired, the nibs are then placed into a press where the oil is gently pressed out, separating the fiber, water soluble antioxidants, minerals and vitamins from the cacao butter which also tastes like chocolate, though not so strongly. Lastly, this "pressed cake," which contains mostly fiber and nutrients, is carefully broken up into a tiny particles and that becomes cacao powder.

The separated oil is not refined or processed any further. It is poured into a lined box and allowed to set up into a solid. This oil is sold as raw cacao butter. The original cacao bean is about 1/2 oil/butter and half fiber/nutrients so for every pound of cacao powder that is produced a pound of raw cacao butter is also produced.

None of our cacao products have been roasted or alkalinized (a process that uses Sodium Hydroxide to enhance the chocolate flavor). Our raw cacao powder boasts of an ORAC score of 1377 μmole TE/gram (137,700 μmole TE/100gram)! It is wonderful to find a cacao powder that has minimal processing and a maximum amount of natural goodness.