Cacao is the purest form of chocolate you can consume, which means it is raw and much less processed than cocoa powder or chocolate bars. Cacao is
thought to be the highest source of antioxidants of all foods and the highest source of magnesium of all foods. It has been used throughout many cultures for years for health purposes and even used as a
high trade commodity.
The cacao fruit tree, also known as Theobroma Cacao, which in Greek means “Food of the Gods”, produces cacao pods which are cracked open to release cacao beans. From there, cacao beans can be processed a few different ways.
The old classification system of criollo, forastero, and trinitario is no longer appropriate, but Hawaii grows all types of cacao. While we do have some pure criollo trees; most seedling trees are unique combinations having parentage from 3 to 10 of the newly recognized cacao types.