What products can be made with cocoa beans?

Chocolate is quite a miraculous thing. Contained within large, brightly coloured, juicy cocoa pods are three to four dozen cocoa beans. But you’re quite unlikely to enjoy the taste of these fresh beans. Only after they have gone through a series of processes can cocoa beans, the raw product, become the chocolate we all love. But cocoa does not just mean chocolate and this article will explore some of the other and lesser known uses of cocoa.

1 – Cocoa Cosmetics

Cocoa beans are rich in fat. After going through thorough grinding, the fat can be extracted. This fragrant, pale yellow fat is known as cocoa butter and has a wide range of cosmetic uses. Rich in antioxidants, and with a melting point hovering around human body temperature, cocoa butter has great potential as a moisturiser for your skin, hair and lips. It therefore should not be too surprising for you to find it as a common ingredient of your favourite skincare products. Cocoa also works well as an emulsifier and thus is also commonly found in soap making. Recently, face masks using cocoa powder have also broken into the beauty and self-care spheres thanks to its potential antioxidant effects on your skin.

2 – Cacao as a Juice

The cocoa beans are only one component of the cocoa pod. Another one is the juicy white flesh, or pulp, that covers them. In most cases, rather than being transformed into a final product, this flesh goes to waste. But people such as the Pacha de Cacao team recognised, by way of the cocoa farmers that shared it, that this pulp not only can be consumed but is actually delicious. The juice from the pulp is well-balanced, combining sourness, sweetness and acidity with notes reminiscent of lychee and pineapple. Luckily, we sell Pacha de Cacao’s refreshing and nutritious cacao pulp juice here at Cocoa Runners:

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  Pacha de Cacao – Cacao Pulp Juice

  £9.95 – £24.95

3 – Cacao for Farmers

Humans are not the only animals benefit from chocolate. There are at least two ways in which by-products of the chocolate making process can be used for animal farming. In some cases, cocoa pods’ husks can be converted into animal feed. Research suggests that cocoa husk can replace other traditional sources of feed, such as corn, although it is sometimes necessary to process these husks to reduce their theobromine content, which can be toxic for several non-human animals. Cacao can also be used as bedding material in dairy farms, with proven positive effects on cattle health. Cocoa waste products can also be converted into nutrient-rich compost to condition and help fertilise soils.

4 – Cocoa Energy

In our time of climate crisis, recent conversations about the energy sector have repeatedly emphasised the need to develop and resort to “greener” energies. Believe it or not, cocoa might just be part of the solution, with Ivory Coast leading the way. The West African country is the world’s leading exporter of cocoa beans, occupying a total of 40% of the global market. But a recent local biomass plant project running, solely on cocoa waste, thereby transforming waste by-products into a source of energy expected to satisfy the electricity needs of around 1.7 million people.

5 – Cocoa Beans as Currency

There have been many kinds of currency throughout history and cocoa pods were once valued as a tool for trade in the Mesoamerican cultures of ancient Central America, such as the Maya and Aztec civilisations. The beans were traded within and between peoples, as a form of universal currency.

6 – Cocoa Medicine

A Chinese saying claims that food and medicine share the same origin. Cocoa very much abides to this principle as, indeed, its health virtues are potentially plentiful. Cocoa is rich in iron, magnesium, copper, manganese and fiber, all of which are beneficial to your body when taken in reasonable amounts. Not only that, but cocoa is also rich in antioxidants and, thanks to its content in caffeine and theobromine, may also enhance your mood. We have a whole series of articles on all things health-related when it comes to cocoa, such as on phenylethylamine and its effects on your mood.

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