Organic Cacao Paste Wafers: The Perfect Ingredient for Chocolate-Making

Cacao Paste Wafers - Organic front of the bag image 1 lb

Cacao Paste Wafers - Organic back of the bag image 1 lb

Cacao Paste Wafers - Organic front of the bag image 5 lb

Cacao Paste Wafers - Organic back of the bag image 5 lb

Cacao Paste Wafers - Organic front and back label image for bulk

Image of a Cacao Pod full of Cacao beans

Cacao Paste Wafers - Organic

Pay Now

$25.99

As low as

Weight

1 lb

5 lbs

40 lbs

Type

Cacao Butter Wafers

100% Cacao Wafers

Cacao Powder

70% Cacao Wafers

About Product

Cacao paste wafers have been around since the Aztecs first discovered cocoa beans in the 16th century.

The beans were ground and mixed with spices and sweeteners to create a paste that was then pressed into wafers.

It was then used as currency, as well as in religious ceremonies.

Over time, cacao paste wafers spread across Europe, with the Dutch introducing it to the world in the 18th century.

Today, cacao paste wafers are enjoyed as a snack or used as an ingredient in recipes.

They are made from cocoa beans harvested, roasted, and ground into a paste. The paste is then poured into molds and hardened into wafers.

Some research suggests that Cacao may contain the following constituents:

Minerals: Magnesium, Phosphorus, Zinc, Sulfur
Vitamins: Vitamin C, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B-6, Vitamin A (IU), Vitamin E, Vitamin K
Amino Acids: Tryptophan
Phytochemicals: Flavonoids, PEA (phenylethylamine), Anandamide, Theobromine, Caffeine, Resveratrol
Essential Fatty Acids: Oleic Acid

This product may melt during shipping if it gets warm. If melting occurs, place it in the refrigerator or freezer for 1 hour. Then break pieces off as needed.

Suggested Use: To melt into recipes, gently warm in a double boiler, then add vanilla and agave nectar to sweeten.

Botanical Name: Theobroma cacao.
Other Names: Cocoa, Chocolate Tree, Koko, Kakaobaum, kakaw, kakao, Chocolate.
Ingredients: Cacao Paste Wafers.
Origin: Grown and produced in Peru and packaged with care in Florida, USA.

Certifications: Certified USDA Organic.

How to Maintain Optimum Freshness

This product is packaged in airtight stand-up, resealable foil pouches for optimum freshness.
Once opened, push the air out of the pouch before resealing it to preserve maximum potency.
Keep your powder in a cool, dark, dry place.

This product is 100% natural and minimally processed:

Taste, smell, texture, and color vary from batch to batch. Go here to learn why our products may naturally vary.

The important protections we take to bring you safe and nutritious superfoods:

Please go here to discover the essential steps we take to deliver fresh, quality nutrition.

Bulk Quantities?

Need to order a large quantity of our products? We are happy to help! Please get in touch with our Bulk department to discuss the details.

* Product packaging, pictures, and origin may vary.

Sources & References

1. Cacao as fruit of cacao tree

2. Pharmacognosy and Health Benefits of Cocoa Seeds, Cocoa Powder (Chocolate)

3. Zipperer, Paul (1902). "white+cacao" The manufacture of chocolate and other cacao preparations (2 ed.). Berlin: Verlag von M. Krayn. p. 14.

4. http://www.freepatentsonline.com/5395635.pdf

5. Ann Bingham; Jeremy Roberts (2010). South and Meso-American Mythology A to Z. Infobase Publishing. p. 19. ISBN 978-1-4381-2958-7.

6. "Chocolate Facts". 2005-06-11. Retrieved 2007-11-12.

7. Sorting Out Chocolate - Fine Cooking Article

8. "Cacao Vs. Cocoa: Updating Your Chocolate Vocabulary". Retrieved 2007-11-12.

9. http://www.thenibble.com/reviews/main/chocolate/the-history-of-chocolate.asp

10. Daaz del Castillo, Bernal (2005) [1632]. Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva EspaÃ±a. Felipe Castro GutiÃ©rrez (Introduction). Mexico: Editores Mexicanos Unidos, S.A.. ISBN 968-15-0863-7. OCLC 34997012

11. "Chocolate History Time Line". Retrieved 2007-11-08.

12. "Cocoa Market Update". World Cocoa Foundation. May 2010. Retrieved 11 December 2011.

13. "ICCO Press Releases". International Cocoa Organization. 30 November 2011. Retrieved 11 December 2011.

14. Wood, G. A. R.; Lass, R. A. (2001). Cocoa. Tropical agriculture series (4 ed.). John Wiley and Sons. ISBN 0-632-06398-X.

15. Olivia Abenyega and James Gockowski (2003). Labor practices in the cocoa sector of Ghana with a special focus on the role of children. International Institute of Tropical Agriculture. pp. 10"“11. ISBN 978-131-218-1.

16. Hui, Yiu H. (2006). Handbook of food science, technology, and engineering 4. CRC Press. ISBN 0-8493-9849-5.

17. Dand, Robin (1999). The international cocoa trade (2 ed.). Woodhead Publishing. ISBN 1-85573-434-6.

18. J. Gockowski and S. Oduwole (2003). Labor practices in the cocoa sector of southwest Nigeria with a focus on the role of children. International Institute of Tropical Agriculture. pp. 11"“15. ISBN 978-131-215-7.

19. http://food.theatlantic.com/artisans/mexican-chocolate-rustic-strong-better.php

20. "Cocoa: From Bean to Bar," Urbanski, John, Food Product Design, May 2008

21. Taubert D, Roesen R, Schamig E (April 2007). "Effect of cocoa and tea intake on blood pressure: a meta-analysis". Arch. Intern. Med. 167 (7): 626"“34. doi:10.1001/archinte.167.7.626. PMID 17420419.

22. Schroeter H, Heiss C, Balzer J, et al. (January 2006). "(-)-Epicatechin mediates beneficial effects of flavanol-rich cocoa on vascular function in humans". Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 103 (4): 1024"“9. doi:10.1073/pnas.0510168103. PMC 1327732. PMID 16418281.

23. Cocoa: The Next Health Drink?

24. http://vegetarian.about.com/od/beverage1/a/raw-chocolate-nutrition.htm

25. "Cocoa nutrient for 'lethal ills'". BBC News. 2007-03-11. Retrieved 2010-04-30.

26. Mauro Serafini, Rossana Bugianesi, Giuseppe Maiani, Silvia Valtuena, Somone De Santis, Ala Crozier: "Plasma antioxidants from chocolate", Nature 424(2003)1013. Downloaded from http://eprints.gla.ac.uk/131/01/Crozier,A_2003.pdf

27. J.B. Keogh, J. McInerney, and P.M. Clifton: "The Effect of Milk Protein on the Bioavailability of Cocoa Polyphenols", Journal of Food Science 72(3)S230-S233, 2007. Downloaded from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1750-3841.2007.00314.x/pdf

28. Flavanols in cocoa may offer benefits to the brain

29. Bayard V, Chamorro F, Motta J, Hollenberg NK (2007). "Does flavanol intake influence mortality from nitric oxide-dependent processes? Ischemic heart disease, stroke, diabetes mellitus, and cancer in Panama". Int J Med Sci 4 (1): 53"“8. PMC 1796954. PMID 17299579.

30. Cocoa, But Not Tea, May Lower Blood Pressure

31. Buijsse B, Feskens EJ, Kok FJ, Kromhout D (February 2006). "Cocoa intake, blood pressure, and cardiovascular mortality: the Zutphen Elderly Study". Arch. Intern. Med. 166 (4): 411"“7. doi:10.1001/archinte.166.4.411. PMID 16505260.

32. Sudarsan Raghavan and Sumana Chatterjee (24 June 2001). "Slaves feed world's taste for chocolate: Captives common in cocoa farms of Africa". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Archived from the original on 17 September 2006. Retrieved 25 April 2012.

33. "Combating Child Labour in Cocoa Growing". International Labor Organization. 2005. Retrieved 26 April 2012.

34.David Wolfe and Shazzie (2005). Naked Chocolate: The Astonishing Truth about the World's Greatest Food. North Atlantic Books. p. 98. ISBN 1-55643-731-5. Retrieved 15 December 2011.

35. Humphrey Hawksley (12 April 2001). "Mali's children in chocolate slavery". BBC News. Retrieved 2 January 2010.

36. Humphrey Hawksley (4 May 2001). "Ivory Coast accuses chocolate companies". BBC News. Retrieved 4 August 2010.

37. U.S. Department of State Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, 2005 Human Rights Report on Ca´te d'Ivoire

38. http://ilo.law.cornell.edu/public/english/standards/ipec/themes/cocoa/download/2005_02_cl_cocoa.pdf

39. Payson Center for International Development and Technology Transfer (30 September 2010). "Fourth Annual Report: Oversight of Public and Private Initiatives to Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labor in the Cocoa Sector of Ca´te d'Ivoire and Ghana". Tulane University. p. 26. Retrieved 23 April 2012.

40. "Protocol for the growing and processing of cocoa beans and their derivative products in a manner that complies with ILO Convention 182 concerning the prohibition and immediate action for the elimination of the worst forms of child labor". International Cocoa Initiative. 2001. Retrieved 25 April 2012.

41. Tricia Escobedo (19 September 2011). "The Human Cost of Chocolate". CNN. Retrieved 28 April 2012.

42. Karen Ann Monsy (24 February 2012). "The bitter truth". Khaleej Times. Retrieved 28 April 2012.

43. Payson Center for International Development and Technology Transfer (31 March 2011). "Oversight of Public and Private Initiatives to Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labor in the Cocoa Sector of Ca´te d'Ivoire and Ghana". Tulane University. pp. 7"“12. Retrieved 26 April 2012.

44. "GOURMET GARDENS: CONGOLESE FAIR TRADE AND ORGANIC COCOA". befair.be.

45. "The News on Chocolate is Bittersweet: No Progress on Child Labor, but Fair Trade Chocolate is on the Rise." Global Exchange June 2005 (8 pages). Web. <http://www.globalexchange.org/campaigns/fairtrade/cocoa/chocolatereport05.pdf>. 1 July 2010.

46. "Fairtrade Cadbury Dairy Milk Goes Global as Canada, Australia, and New Zealand take Fairtrade Further Into Mainstream." Cadbury PLC 2010. Web. <http://www.cadbury.com/ourresponsibilities/fairtrade/Pages/fairtrade.aspx>. 1 July 2010.

47. http://authoritynutrition.com/7-health-benefits-dark-chocolate/

48. Sibun, Jonathan; Wallop, Harry (17 July 2010). "Mystery trader buys all Europe's cocoa". The Telegraph. Retrieved 27 July 2010.

49. http://www.ars-grin.gov/cgi-bin/duke/farmacy2.pl

50. From cacao tree to bean: the beginning of fermentation - https://onthecocoatrail.com/2012/06/20/from-tree-to-bean-the-beginning-of-fermentation/

51. From cacao tree to bean: the drying process - https://onthecocoatrail.com/2012/06/24/from-tree-to-bean-the-drying-process/

52. http://ndb.nal.usda.gov/ndb/foods/show/6405

Video transcription

I Love This Place

I am so grateful for Z Naturals and their Love and Goodness in the products an the ease of ordering!

Cacao Paste Wafers - Organic

Quality Product/Good Value

I had been looking for a good quality cacao product for awhile. I was listening to a podcast and Z Naturals cacao wafers came highly recommended. I knew he knew what he was talking about, so I decided to give it a try. I use these wafers in a couple different way. As a snack, baking or making cacao bark with nuts, coconut and dried fruit. Yum.