an OCP newsletter article from June 2011; artisanal chocolate updated with Rox Chox

Chocolate, sweet chocolate

Chocolate is a cherished delicacy the world over, but did you know that it was traditionally used as a nutrient-dense medicinal food in its region of origin in Central and South America? When the Europeans learned of chocolate, they took it back home and turned it into the sweet treats we grew up with, but these forms of chocolate are heavily processed to extract the flavor, are mixed with fillers and sweeteners, and are a mineral-poor cousin to the traditional medicinal food. It’s ironic that chocolate has become synonymous with Belgium, Holland, Switzerland, and England, when the real stuff — the truly tasty, life-giving stuff — is from the Americas.

The following article discusses some of the issues surrounding raw cacao and our changing source of raw cacao, and our exciting new local artisanal offerings from Rox Chox. If you don’t want to read all about why you should be eating raw cacao or why OCP has the best cacao on the planet, please do make sure to scroll to the bottom of the email where we introduce these amazing hand-crafted chocolates. Your taste buds will thank you!

The Controversy of Raw Cacao

In the last ten years, we’ve seen an influx of raw cacao products in the marketplace. Raw cacao is a huge industry, seeking to supply people with a healthy variant to the chocolate we grew up on while capitalizing on our sweet teeth. It hasn’t been met with entirely open arms in the “food-for-health” crowd, though.

Proponents of raw cacao assert that it’s a mineral-rich superfood (the number one food source of magnesium – important for heart health and something we are all depleted in – super-rich in iron, chromium, manganese, zinc, vitamin C, and much, much more). It’s touted as having one of the highest concentrations of antioxidants in the world.

Detractors of cacao say it has a negative effect on the body’s health when consumed in consistent quantities, even before we question the methods with which it is sweetened and blended.

Last fall, more controversy hit the raw cacao market when an exposé revealed that most processors of raw cacao butter and powder were actually heating the cacao past 115 degrees F in the extraction process, thus making these products not truly raw. At that time, we transferred the cacao products we stock to those supplied by a Balinese distributor, marketing their product under the “Truly Raw” brand. For reasons I’ll explain below, we’re in the process of phasing into a new supplier of our cacao.

Is there such a thing as Raw Cacao?

The process for extracting the oils and solids from cacao beans that results in cacao powder and cacao butter is one that cannot be proven to be a raw process. The only temperature measurements that can be derived are those after the point of extraction, in which rapid cooling is present. Manufacturers simply have no way to measure how hot the cacao actually gets in extraction. To folks who want food product that isn’t enzymatically altered at 115 degrees F, this becomes very important.

The good news is that one can get actually raw cacao in the form of cacao beans, cacao nibs, and cacao paste. Unlike powder and butter, cacao paste is simply cacao beans stoneground into paste, and can be measured to never exceed 115 degrees F. OCP carries nibs, powder, butter, and paste, depending on your needs.

The Importance of Sourcing

Aside from the issue of processing, the most recent conversation in cacao circles is about sourcing. Cacao and chocolate have been a very rich agricultural crop for hundreds of years. As with any rich agricultural crop, cacao has been hybridized over the years for flavor, production, and climate purposes. Unfortunately, most hybridization hasn’t been conducted for preserving high nutrient-content. To the rest of the world, chocolate is a dessert delicacy, not a vital food and key medicinal. Most of the cacao available on the market is from hybrid strains designed to grow quickly on chocolate farms, and this agricultural practice results in an end-product that isn’t as mineral-rich as it should be.

Additionally, the raw organic cacao craze of the last decade has resulted in the market being flooded with product that isn’t up to snuff. For people seeking a cacao that serves as a mineral-rich food, it’s more important than ever to have good sourcing.

At this point, I am going to refer you to this 28-minute conversation with David Wolfe and Len Foley talking about the state of cacao sourcing in Ecuador and elsewhere in the Americas. David Wolfe is one of the primary instigators for raw cacao being the craze it is, and Len Foley has been his business partner in bringing both product and knowledge into the marketplace. In this short, extraordinarily informative discussion they talk about heirloom and hybrid strains of cacao, how raw cacao needs to be sourced not farmed, the medicinal potency of true chocolate, and David gives a tip for including cacao in your beverages, from smoothies to teas — use paste, not powder.

In this discussion, they frequently reference Robert Williams as their source for Ecuadorian cacao, which brings us back to Our Community Pantry. Robert Williams has been OCP’s primary distributor for everything related to raw superfoods since our inception. He’s the one supplying our maca, nori, chlorella and spirulina, goji berries and goldenberries, vanilla beans, coconut flakes, raw snacks, and superherbs. His companies supply the highest-quality nutrient-dense foods on the planet at wholesale prices that allow me to pass them on to you at affordable prices.

Last fall, we switched away from his initial company for sourcing raw cacao in order to make the move to the Balinese distributor, but since then Robert Williams has formed a new company that is even more focused than ever on bringing only the best of the best to market, and he’s bringing OCP along to this new company. It’ll be a few weeks until we’re fully switched over, and a few more months before they’ve fully secured the range of products we currently get from his former company.

This new company is focused initially on cacao, but will be adding products rapidly. I’m very excited to announce that the OCP standards for high-quality, transparency of sourcing, and purity of product are going to be achievable on an entirely more profound level by the formation of this new company wholly dedicated to those goals. It’s been a real pleasure to work with them and to supply you with products of this caliber.

Please do consider listening to the conversation referenced above. It’s very eye-opening about how agriculture works in our day and age, and how diligent we have to be as caring consumers to counteract that. The discussion is indicative on an international level for why OCP exists, and why your support of the Pantry is so cherished.

Blah blah blah… where’s my chocolate?!

There’s chocolate, and then there’s the sweet, sweet nectar of the gods that we mere mortals are only rarely privileged to encounter. Thankfully, we have access to some in the form of Rox Chox Chocolate, a locally-made artisanal chocolate that is simply out of this world! You can find it on our Ordering pages, under both the Chocolate page and the Local Artisan page.

Seriously… give it a try. You won’t regret it!