Cacao vs cocoa is a question of words, not plants: both come from the same tree. In everyday use, cacao means the tree, the fruit and anything lightly processed, while cocoa means roasted, processed products such as cocoa powder. At Bantu Chocolate we say cacao for the fruit we grow and cocoa for what is made from it, and we never use Dutch-processed cocoa.
The two words are cousins. Cacao comes from the Mesoamerican name for the plant, and cocoa is the English spelling that grew out of it. In Britain, cocoa long stood for both the tree and the tin in the cupboard. Then cacao came back into fashion, and with it a premium: on a wellness shelf, the older word often sells the same powder for more. Today the real difference is not the spelling. It is what happens to the bean after harvest.
In the last decade a third word joined them: ceremonial cacao, usually 100% cacao paste sold with a story. We look at what that label means in is ceremonial cacao the same as cacao paste?
Cacao vs cocoa: same plant, two words
| Cacao | Cocoa | |
|---|---|---|
| Usually means | The tree, the fruit, the beans and lightly processed products | Roasted, processed products |
| Typical products | Cacao pods, beans, nibs, cacao paste | Cocoa powder, cocoa butter, cocoa drinks |
| Legal meaning | No separate legal definition | Defined products in UK, French and US food law |
What is cocoa powder?
Cocoa powder begins as ground cacao pressed hard enough to squeeze out most of its fat, the cocoa butter. The dry cake left behind is milled into powder. Powder sold as cacao is usually made the same way, from beans processed at lower temperatures, while cocoa powder is usually roasted and sometimes alkalised. So read the process, not the word.
Does cocoa powder still have nutrients?
More than you might think. Pressing takes out the fat, not the rest of the bean, so what remains is concentrated. Per 100 g, the Danish National Food Institute puts cocoa powder at 523 mg of magnesium, 11 mg of iron and 24 g of fibre, and USDA figures are similar. The Swedish Food Agency measured 70% dark chocolate at 170 mg of magnesium: roughly a third, because a bar is about half cocoa butter and sugar.
Gram for gram, cocoa powder is the more concentrated form. But you eat it by the spoonful: going by USDA figures, a 5 g spoon brings about 25 mg of magnesium, while a 25 g serving of 70 to 85% dark chocolate brings about 57 mg.
Why does cacao cost more than cocoa?
Often, because the word sells. On a wellness shelf, “cacao” can carry a premium for a powder made much the same way as cocoa. So pay for what changes the bean, not the label:
- A named origin you can trace. One country is good. One estate is better: you know whose hands the pods passed through. Read more on single-origin chocolate.
- Processing that leaves the bean alone. No alkalising, and gentle roasting, so the cacao keeps its natural acidity and more of its flavanols.
- Who was paid, and how. Some brands buy “direct trade”, straight from farmers. Ours goes one step closer: the cacao grows on our family’s own estate in Cameroon, paid for at about $10 a kilo, worked out backwards from the Anker Living Wage for rural Cameroon. See how that compares.
The rest is packaging.
What is Dutch-processed cocoa?
Dutch-processed cocoa, also called alkalised cocoa, has been treated with an alkaline salt such as potassium carbonate. The method was developed in the Netherlands in the 1800s, which is where the name comes from.
Alkalising changes cocoa in three ways:
- It softens the acidity, so the cocoa tastes milder and less bitter.
- It deepens the colour, from a light reddish brown to a deep brown, sometimes almost black.
- It helps the powder dissolve into liquid, which is why it became the cocoa of choice for drinks.
In the US, cocoa made this way must say “processed with alkali” on the label (Cornell Legal Information Institute). In the UK and Europe, look for “cocoa treated with alkali” or “alkalised cocoa” in the ingredients.
What does alkalising do to cocoa’s nutrients?
Alkalising takes away much of the bean’s flavanols, the plant compounds cacao carries naturally and the ones most studied for their effect on blood vessels (we cover that research in the benefits of dark chocolate). In a study of commercial cocoa powders in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, light alkalising cut flavanols by about 60% and heavy alkalising by about 89%. Minerals such as magnesium and iron barely change, and some fibre is lost: USDA figures fall from 37 g to 29.8 g per 100 g. Potassium carbonate, the usual alkalising agent, can even raise the potassium.
What alkalising mostly takes away is the bean’s own character: its brightness, its natural acidity and much of its flavanol content. Read more in our guide to cocoa solids.
Why do bakers use Dutch-processed cocoa?
Because it bakes beautifully. Dutch-processed cocoa gives cakes and biscuits a deep, dark colour and a smooth, mellow flavour, and very heavily alkalised black cocoa is behind some biscuits’ almost-black look. It also reacts differently with raising agents than cocoa that has not been alkalised, so use the type your recipe asks for.
Can you substitute cacao powder for cocoa powder?
Usually, if the recipe was written for cocoa that has not been alkalised (bakers call it natural cocoa). Cacao powder and unalkalised cocoa are both slightly acidic, and that acid reacts with bicarbonate of soda to help a cake rise.
Dutch-processed cocoa is close to neutral, so recipes written for it lean on baking powder instead. Swap one for the other and the chemistry shifts:
- Cacao powder in a Dutch-cocoa recipe: a paler, slightly sharper bake that may not rise as intended.
- Dutch cocoa in a bicarbonate recipe: the soda has little acid to work with, so the cake can turn out flat, with a faintly soapy or metallic edge.
Fat matters too. It varies more between brands than between the two words, so check the label.
Which do you actually need?
- Cocoa powder that has not been alkalised (check that the label does not say “treated with alkali”) if you want the bean as it grew: its natural acidity, more of its flavanols, and an origin you can trace. Stir it into warm milk or porridge, or bake with recipes written for unalkalised cocoa and bicarbonate of soda.
- Dutch-processed cocoa if you are baking a recipe written for it: a dark cake or brownie that relies on baking powder. Expect less of the bean’s own character.
- Chocolate if you want all of it, the cocoa butter as well as the solids.
Which should you buy?
Ignore the word on the front of the pack and turn it over. Look for:
- A named origin, ideally one farm or estate
- A short ingredient list you recognise
- No alkali processing, if you want to taste the cacao itself
- A brand that can tell you who grew it, and how they were paid
Our Noire 73% is made from single-estate cacao grown on our family estate in Cameroon, with no alkalised cocoa. Read more about the fruit itself in what is cacao?.
Cacao that was never alkalised
Our Voodoo 83% and Noire 73% are made from single-estate cacao grown on our family’s estate in Cameroon. Three ingredients each.
FAQs
Cacao and Cocoa
Yes, botanically. Both come from the same tree. Cacao usually means the plant and anything lightly processed, while cocoa means roasted, processed products such as cocoa powder.
Close, but not quite. Both are ground cacao with most of the fat pressed out, but cacao powder is usually processed at lower temperatures, while cocoa powder is usually roasted and sometimes alkalised.
Cocoa treated with an alkaline salt to soften its acidity, deepen its colour and help it dissolve. In the US it must be labelled “processed with alkali”.
It holds far fewer flavanols: in one study, light alkalising cut them by about 60% and heavy alkalising by about 89%. Minerals barely change, and some fibre is lost.
Because it bakes beautifully, giving cakes and biscuits a deep, dark colour and a mellow flavour. Very heavily alkalised black cocoa can turn them almost black.
Rarely, in the strict sense. Almost all cacao is fermented and sun-dried on the farm, and “raw” has no legal definition in the UK or the US.
Written by Bantu Chocolate.
Yes, in recipes written for cocoa that has not been alkalised. In recipes written for Dutch-processed cocoa, the different acidity changes how the cake rises.
Written by Bantu Chocolate.
