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Raw Organic Cacao Nibs

Cacao nibs are pieces of the seed that makes chocolate. Cacao is called a “super food” because it is very high in antioxidants. You may have heard how dark chocolate is good for you. Well, raw cacao is the “good for you” part. The milk, sugar, and other additives to chocolate (the -olate in chocolate refers to milk) only dilute the benefits. Cacao by itself tastes slightly bitter and the goji berries weave a sweet and sour complexity into the flavor. Agave nectar’s sweetness balances raw cacao’s flavor. Roasting cacao changes the flavors and may diminish the benefits of Theobroma cacao.

I use raw organic cacao nibs in Chicaoji from the folks who make Pacari Organic Chocolates. I buy from Pacari because they import directly from farmers cooperatives in Ecuador that grow the cacao. Before I found Pacari, I obtained my cacao from Live Superfoods in Bend, Oregon.  Live Superfoods is fine place to get cacao if you don’t want to meet Pacari’s 30+ pound minimum order.

Live Superfoods.com provides information about raw cacao you might find interesting. Go HERE
Briefly, they explain about the antioxidants, neurotransmitters, essential minerals, and fats in raw cacao. Also, they provide some history of and uses for raw cacao. Check them out if you are interested in providing yourself, your loved ones, or your customers with top shelf organic foods, personal care products, supplements, books, and so forth.

I’ve always liked dark chocolate. Once I discovered cacao nibs, I enjoyed eating them on all sorts of food, in trail mixes, and just out of hand. The combination of cacao nibs and goji berries inspired Chicaoji. See the story of Chicaoji.

For your reading pleasure I copied the paragraphs below from the Pacari Chocolate website.
Read this for a fuller understanding of why I obtain cacao for Chicaoji from these folks.
They are a family owned company in Ecuador.  www.pacarichocolate.com

The Pacari Story

Pacari Chocolate is a family-owned company, dedicated to making the highest quality organic chocolate from Ecuador.

Santiago Peralta and Carla Barboto built a business based on socially and environmentally sustainable principles to ensure that their products support the well-being of the land and the community around it. Combining a passion for sustainable business and a commitment to preserving the native Arriba Nacional cacao, they developed Pacari Chocolate – the first single-origin organic chocolate made entirely in Ecuador.

Since 2002 we have worked with cacao growers and acquired knowledge that enables us to create a fine chocolate with the best flavor and texture possible, here at the source of the treasured fine flavor cacao. An essential ingredient is being involved in the entire process – from working directly with the farmers to designing the packaging, and in every step in between.

Pacari works in small batches using carefully selected ingredients to bring you an unforgettable chocolate experience.The word Pacari means “nature” in Quechua, an indigenous language of the Andeanregion. The name was chosen to evoke all that our chocolate is about: the best products from the earth, all natural and 100% Ecuadorian.

Pacari continues to seek out innovative ways to bring out the best in the fine flavor Ecuadorian (Arriba Nacional) cacao, from our Raw chocolate line, to our latest range of dark chocolate with flavors from across the Andes.

Quality

Our primary goal is to ensure that we create the finest quality chocolate. We search for superior organic ingredients, and produce our chocolate in small batches to highlight the exceptional flavor profile of the cacao bean. We use only Arriba Nacional cacao, the plants native to Ecuador that yield a bean classified as “fino de aroma.” This cacao is known for its rich, full taste and complex fruity and floral notes. When you partake of Pacari Chocolate, you are experiencing a little bit of what makes Ecuador special.

Environment

At Pacari, we are concerned with the sustainability of the ecosystem within Ecuador. We believe that business, especially in a developing country like ours, has a duty to support healthy and environmentally sound production. Over the past few decades, we have seen significant growth in non-organic agriculture, which can cause irreparable damage to the environment as well as the health of the farm workers.

Using organically produced ingredients ensures that no harm is done to the environment during the growing process. Organics also protect all of our health — both of the workers who grow the ingredients, and our customers who enjoy our chocolates.In an effort to promote the use of sustainable and organic agriculture, Pacari only purchases from certified organic farms. By working with traditional cacao growers, not plantations, Pacari seeks to protect the priceless (irreplaceable) genetic stock that is Ecuadorian cacao.

On these small farms, the cacao trees have been growing and intermingling for hundreds of years. The cross pollination of cacao which occurs in natural settings greatly reduces the possibility of a plague decimating the trees in Ecuador. Much like seed banks that exist for other crops, supporting family farms in Ecuador ensures that there is genetic material that can be used in the event that a disease does affect cacao in other countries.

Social Responsibility

We work directly with small scale farmers, not middle men, to ensure that they are fairly compensated for their products. We pay a significant premium over market prices so that the producers capture sufficient value for their hard work and can continue their sustainable farming methods, preserving the genetic diversity of cacao in Ecuador.

We are located within a few hour´s drive from most of our producers, and we work closely with them to help improve their organic agriculture processes and bean quality. Because we have been able to build a trusted business relationship, and provide advisory services as part of our partnership, we have developed long term commitments with each of our producers.

The Pacari Passion

(This section repeats the info above but with changes. They saw fit to put these two segments of separate pages. I combined them.)

Quality

Our primary goal is to ensure that we create the finest quality chocolate. We search for superior organic ingredients, and produce our chocolate in small batches to maintain the maximum flavor profile of the cacao bean, providing a memorable chocolate experience. We use only Arriba Nacional cacao, the plants native to Ecuador that yield a bean classified as “fino de aroma.” This cacao is known for its rich, full taste and complex fruity and floral notes. We hope that when you experience Pacari Chocolate, it will invoke the Amazonian rainforest of Ecuador.

Organic

At Pacari, we are concerned with the sustainability of the ecosystem within Ecuador. We believe that business, especially in a developing country like ours, has a duty to support healthy and environmentally sound production. Over the past few decades, we have seen significant growth in non-organic agriculture, which can cause irreparable damage to the environment as well as the health of the farm workers.

Using organically produced ingredients ensures that no harm is done to the environment during the growing process. Organics also protect all of our health — both of the workers who grow the ingredients, and our customers who enjoy our chocolates.

In an effort to promote the use of sustainable and organic agriculture, Pacari only purchases from 100% organic farms. All farms from which Pacari sources its products are certified by USDA Organic and EU Organic Regulation 2092/91.

Fair Trade

We work directly with small scale farmers, not middle men, to ensure that they are fairly compensated for their products. We pay a significant premium over market prices to ensure that the producers capture sufficient value for their hard work.

We are located within a few hour´s drive from most of our producers, and we work closely with them to help improve their organic agriculture processes and bean quality. Because we have been able to build a trusted business relationship, and provide advisory services as part of our business partnership, we have developed long term commitment with each of our producers.

We also ensure that our producers are pay fair wages and follow strict guidelines on working conditions for their farm laborers in keeping with Fair Trade practices. Some of our producers are already Fair Trade certified by Fairtrade Labeling Organization (FLO).

 

There is a whole world of information regarding raw cacao and why you should eat it. You can make amazing food that tastes really good with it….including interesting and delicious sauces….  ;)
Randall