Magnesium for the Heart and Brain

Raw cacao is the primary dietary source of magnesium, the most deficient mineral in western civilisation. Magnesium is the most important mineral for a healthy functioning heart. It also plays a key role in producing energy for the neurons in the brain from glucose. So when there is an abundance of magnesium the brain works with clarity and focus.

Mood elevators and Anti-depressants

Cacao is a great source of serotonin, dopamine, anandamide and phenylethylamine (PEA), four well-studied neurotransmitters, which are associated with feelings of well-being and help alleviate depression. Both PEA and Anandamide (the bliss chemical) are found in abundance in the brains of happy people and are particularly released when we are feeling happy. Both of these neurotransmitters are present in raw cacao in large enough quantities to affect the brain and lift our moods. Cacao also contains monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAO Inhibitors) that keep neurotransmitters in the bloodstream for longer without being broken down.

Growing

Satipo is a region that sits at the edge of the Amazon basin at the base of the Andes mountain range. In this area we work with 4 small producer groups tthat are grouped under the umbrella Association of Cacao Producers of Satipo, consisting of Altoandinos and both the indigenous Ashaninka and Chene people. We have used cacao from the 2018 harvest of the Ashaninka people for this bar. They have maintained their traditional ways of growing cacao and taking care of the forests. Check out our Growers page to find out more about these amazing people.

Processing

First of all, the Cacao pods are harvested from the trees and cracked open. The beans are then taken out and fermented. The level of fermentation affects the flavour; we do a low fermentation of about 45 degrees C, as otherwise the temperatures can get quite high, which affects the structure of the nutrients. The main thing that Loving Earth does differently to other chocolate makers is that we don't roast the Raw Cacao Beans before we process them. The standard procedure in the chocolate industry is to roast the Raw Cacao, which helps bring out the flavour. It removes a lot of the microbiological contamination they might contain, but it also removes some of the valuable antioxidants contained within. What we do instead is wash them with a citric-based organic disinfectant. Afterwards, they're dried in large commercial dehydrators, at controlled temperatures, before being winnowed into nibs, which basically means taking the skin off them. Then we grind them into liquor, and finally we press them into powder and butter.

Basically, we get five products from this process. We get Raw Cacao Beans, and because we've disinfected and washed them you can eat them - raw! We get Raw Cacao Nibs, which are the beans without the skin. We get Raw Cacao Liquor, which is the nibs ground into a paste. Then when we take the the liquor and put it into a very high-pressure press, which presses all the fat and butter out of it. So the end product is the Cacao Butter and then this hard cake that's milled into Cacao Powder. 1kg of liquor is about 50% fat, so when you press the liquor you get about 40% Cacao Butter and 60% powder. The powder retains about 10% fat content after pressing, and all the antioxidants plus a lot of the nutrients are concentrated in that powder.

We buy and import these five products, which we use to make our raw chocolate from scratch. When indigenous communities such as our friends in Peru manage to add as much value as possible at the point of origin, not only do we support agricultural industry, but also the development of that community. We get the five basic materials we need to make our chocolate, and they earn more, allowing them to further develop infrastructure to process their Cacao.

Every Loving Earth chocolate bar comes to you in a plant-based inner wrapper to maximise freshness and extend shelf life. These wrappers are not made of plastic and are compostable. The boxes which contain our wrapped chocolate bars are made from 97% recycled post consumer card board and are printed with vegetable inks.

Nutrition Information

Serving Size: 8.9g (2 squares)

Serves Per Package: 9