Cacao

Cacao is the tropical tree Theobroma cacao and the bitter, almond-shaped seeds (cacao beans) that grow inside its football-sized pods. Every chocolate you have ever eaten, from a dark bar to a white chocolate truffle, starts with these beans.

Where cacao grows

Cacao trees only thrive in a narrow band roughly 20 degrees north and south of the equator, where it is warm, humid and shaded. Most of the world's supply comes from West Africa, with other important growing regions in Latin America and Southeast Asia. The pods grow straight off the trunk and are harvested by hand.

From pod to chocolate

Fresh beans taste nothing like chocolate. The familiar flavor develops through a series of steps:

• Fermentation — beans and their sweet white pulp are piled or boxed for several days, which builds flavor precursors.
• Drying — the beans are sun-dried so they can be stored and shipped.
• Roasting — heat brings out the deep, toasty chocolate aroma.
• Cracking and winnowing — shells are removed, leaving cacao nibs.
• Grinding — nibs are ground into a paste that separates into cocoa butter and cocoa solids.

Cacao vs. cocoa

The two words are often used interchangeably. A common convention is to say "cacao" for the plant and the less-processed bean, and "cocoa" for roasted, processed products like cocoa powder. Neither word is a legal grade, so read ingredient lists rather than relying on the spelling.

Cacao in Polkadot products

Polkadot builds its bars on Belgian chocolate, so cacao is the foundation of every bar in the Polkadot chocolate bar collection. It is most pronounced in the dark chocolate bars, where the Polkadot Dark Chocolate is described as having rich cacao content, and in the Cookies & Cacao bar, which leans into that deep, roasted cacao character. If you want to understand how much cacao is in a bar, see cacao percentage.