Walk down a supermarket aisle and you’ll find “cacao” and “cocoa” used almost interchangeably, sometimes on adjacent products at wildly different prices. Both come from Theobroma cacao. Both are brown. Both taste like chocolate.
What separates them is everything that happens between the pod and the pouch — and that processing determines whether you’re buying a genuine source of flavanols or a well-marketed brown powder with most of its bioactive content cooked and chemically stripped out.
The same bean, three different destinies
After harvest, cacao beans are fermented for roughly five to seven days, then dried. Everything to this point is common to all products. Then the paths diverge.
Cacao (minimally processed)
Typically cold-pressed or ground at low temperature from beans that have been fermented and dried but not subjected to high-heat roasting or alkali treatment. It is more bitter and more acidic, with a full-bodied dark-chocolate character. It retains the highest share of its native flavanols.
Natural cocoa powder
Roasted, then pressed to remove cocoa butter. The roast costs some flavanol content but the powder remains acidic — pH around 5 — and retains a meaningful fraction of its polyphenols. This is the cocoa that reacts with baking soda in a recipe.
Dutch-process (alkalised) cocoa
Natural cocoa treated with an alkaline solution to neutralise acidity, raising pH from roughly 5 to somewhere between 6 and 8. The result is darker, smoother, less bitter, and dissolves beautifully. It is also where the bulk of the flavanol loss happens.
How much is actually lost
Published processing studies report flavanol reductions in the range of 60% with conventional Dutch processing, and losses approaching 90% under aggressive alkalisation. The variation is wide because “Dutched” isn’t a single standard — processors dial alkali strength and dwell time to hit a target colour and flavour.
This is the uncomfortable part for anyone who has been eating dark chocolate for the health benefits: the darkest, smoothest, most “premium-looking” cocoa is frequently the most heavily alkalised. Colour is not a proxy for flavanol content. If anything, in the alkalised category, the relationship runs backwards.
- “Processed with alkali” or “Dutch-processed” — expect substantial flavanol loss. In the US this phrase is required on the ingredient list.
- “Natural cocoa” — roasted but not alkalised. A reasonable middle ground.
- “Raw cacao” / “cacao powder” — usually the least processed, most bitter, highest retention. Note that “raw” is not a regulated term.
- Cocoa percentage tells you how much of the bar is cocoa solids plus butter. It says nothing about how those solids were processed.
Why flavanols are the thing worth protecting
Cacao’s flavanols — principally epicatechin, catechin, and the procyanidin oligomers built from them — are the compounds most consistently linked to cardiovascular outcomes in controlled trials. They’re associated with the nitric-oxide pathway that governs blood-vessel dilation, which is the mechanism explored in our guide to how cocoa flavanols work.
The European Food Safety Authority has approved a health claim on this basis: 200 mg of cocoa flavanols daily contributes to normal endothelium-dependent vasodilation, which helps maintain healthy blood flow. That claim is specifically about flavanols — not about chocolate, and not about cocoa that has had its flavanols removed. The largest randomised test of that dose to date is covered in our breakdown of the COSMOS trial.
Which is precisely the problem with using ordinary supermarket cocoa as a health strategy. A heavily Dutched powder can technically be 100% cocoa and still deliver a small fraction of the flavanols a minimally processed cacao would — and the same trap applies to chocolate bars, as we cover in how much dark chocolate to eat per day.
What we do about it
F-100 sources high-flavanol cacao and keeps it minimally processed — controlled post-harvest fermentation, low-temperature roasting, no alkalisation. That’s a deliberate trade: our cacao is more bitter and less uniformly dark than a Dutched powder would be, because the processing that produces those cosmetic qualities is the processing that removes what we’re selling.
You’ll find it three ways: blended at 20% into our Coffee + Cacao, as pure High Performance Cacao powder to stir into anything, and as single-origin Ceremonial Cacao for a slower ritual.
High Performance Cacao — 1 lb
Pure, minimally processed, non-alkalised cacao powder. One tablespoon into coffee, oats or a smoothie.
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between cacao and cocoa?
Both come from the same bean. Cacao generally refers to minimally processed powder made without high-heat roasting or alkali treatment, retaining more flavanols. Cocoa is roasted and pressed, and Dutch-process cocoa is additionally treated with alkali, which neutralises acidity but removes a large share of the flavanol content.
Is Dutch-process cocoa bad for you?
It is not harmful — it simply contains far fewer flavanols. Published processing research reports losses of roughly 60%, and up to about 90% under heavy alkalisation. If you are eating cocoa for flavour or baking chemistry, Dutch process is fine. If you are eating it for flavanols, it is a poor choice.
Does a higher cocoa percentage mean more flavanols?
Not reliably. The percentage tells you how much of the product is cocoa solids and cocoa butter, but says nothing about whether those solids were alkalised. A 90% bar made from heavily Dutched cocoa can contain fewer flavanols than a 70% bar made from natural cocoa.
Is raw cacao better than roasted?
Minimally processed cacao generally retains more flavanols because heat degrades some of them. However, ‘raw’ is not a regulated term, and fermentation and drying — which all cacao undergoes — already involve meaningful temperature exposure. Look for ‘non-alkalised’ as the more meaningful signal.
How can I tell if cocoa has been alkalised?
In the United States, alkalised cocoa must be labelled as ‘processed with alkali’ or similar in the ingredient statement. If the packaging says nothing and the powder is very dark and mild-tasting, alkalisation is likely.
References
These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. This article is for educational purposes and is not medical advice. Talk to your doctor before changing your diet, caffeine intake, or any medication — particularly if you are pregnant, nursing, managing blood pressure or a heart condition, or taking prescription drugs.