Purity & Process
From one fruit,four pure forms.
Cocoa is transformed through a sequence of carefully controlled steps into distinct ingredients, each with its own texture, flavour and purpose.
The transformation
How cocoa becomes an ingredient.
Depending on the required product and specification, cocoa passes through some or all of these stages.
- 01
Harvesting
Ripe pods are cut from the tree by hand.
- 02
Opening the pods
Pods are opened to release beans and pulp.
- 03
Fermentation
Beans rest so cocoa flavour precursors can develop.
- 04
Drying
Beans are dried until stable for storage.
- 05
Cleaning & roasting
Dried beans are cleaned and roasted to bring out cocoa character.
- 06
Grinding to cocoa mass
Roasted nibs are ground into cocoa mass — sometimes called cocoa liquor. It contains no alcohol.
- 07
Pressing into butter & press cake
Cocoa mass is pressed to separate cocoa butter from the remaining pressed cocoa cake.
- 08
Milling into powder
Cocoa cake can be milled into cocoa powder according to specification.
Four cocoa forms
One fruit, four ingredients.
Cocoa powder
Made from processed cocoa material after part of the cocoa butter is removed. A fine, dry ingredient. Natural and alkalized forms behave differently in recipes.
Cocoa butter
The naturally occurring fat obtained from cocoa beans. Used in chocolate, confectionery, baking and other food applications.
Cocoa mass (cocoa liquor)
Finely ground cocoa material containing cocoa solids and naturally occurring cocoa butter. Industry also calls it cocoa liquor; it contains no alcohol.
Pressed cocoa cake
The dense pressed cocoa material remaining after part of the cocoa butter is separated. Used as an ingredient or milled into cocoa powder. Not a dessert cake.
Natural vs alkalized powder
Two characters, one bean.
Natural cocoa powder retains its natural acidity, tends toward a lighter or reddish-brown colour, and often has a sharper cocoa character.
Alkalized cocoa powder is treated with an alkalizing process, typically has a darker colour and a rounder profile, and is often called Dutch-processed cocoa. Neither is healthier or superior — they suit different applications.
Natural vs deodorized butter
Aromatic or neutral.
Natural cocoa butter retains more of its characteristic cocoa aroma. It contains no dairy.
Deodorized cocoa butter has a more neutral aroma and suits applications where less cocoa aroma is wanted. It also contains no dairy.
What 'pure' means
Pure describes what is not there.
'Pure' refers to products made of cocoa-derived ingredients only, without added sugar, without artificial flavouring and without unnecessary additives — where the product's specification supports it. Final specifications will be published on each product page before launch.
The process
From fermented bean to finished ingredient
The general stages every cocoa ingredient goes through. Exact methods vary by producer and product — what stays constant is the sequence.
Stage one · Fermentation
Days under leaves, developing flavour
Beans and pulp are gathered and covered — usually with banana leaves — for several days. Natural fermentation removes the pulp and starts the complex chemistry that will become cocoa flavour.
Stage two · Drying
Sun and open air, patiently
Fermented beans are spread out to dry, turned regularly, until their moisture is low enough for safe storage and transport. Only now do they smell recognisably of cocoa.
Stage three · Grinding
Cracked, winnowed and ground into cocoa mass
Dried beans are cleaned, roasted, cracked, and separated from their husks. The nibs are milled — first coarse, then fine — into a dense paste we call cocoa mass, or cocoa liquor.
Stage four · Pressing
Butter separates, cake stays behind
The cocoa mass is pressed under high pressure. Part of it flows out as clear cocoa butter; what remains is pressed cocoa cake, which is later milled into cocoa powder.
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