Plain-English definitions of the cocoa and shea terms you'll meet across our product pages — from cocoa mass to slip point. Every product is single-origin Ghana, COCOBOD-certified, and lab-verified with a Certificate of Analysis on every batch.

Single-origin

Cocoa sourced from one country of origin — in our case, Ghana — rather than blended from several origins. It gives a consistent, identifiable flavour profile.

COCOBOD

The Ghana Cocoa Board — the state body that grades, inspects and certifies all Ghanaian cocoa before export. One of the strictest national cocoa quality-control systems in the world.

Cocoa mass (cocoa liquor)

100% pure ground cocoa beans — the base of all real chocolate. Roughly 50–55% natural cocoa butter, no sugar, no additives. Also called cocoa liquor (it contains no alcohol).

Cocoa butter

The natural fat pressed from cocoa beans. Firm at room temperature with a slip point around 32–35°C, it gives chocolate its snap, gloss and smooth melt — and is widely used in skincare.

Natural Prime Press

A gentle hydraulic pressing method that extracts cocoa butter with no solvents, no deodorising and no bleaching — leaving it food- and cosmetic-grade in its most natural state.

Natural (non-alkalized) cocoa powder

Cocoa powder made without alkali treatment, so it keeps its natural acidity (pH ~5.0–5.5), bright fruity flavour and lighter colour, and reacts with bicarbonate of soda for natural leavening. (The alternative — “alkalized” or “Dutch-processed” powder — is chemically treated for a darker colour and milder taste. We supply natural powder only.)

Slip point

The temperature at which a fat begins to melt. Cocoa butter's slip point of ~32–35°C sits just below body temperature — which is why good chocolate melts in the mouth.

Stearic acid

A saturated fatty acid naturally high in cocoa butter (~33–35%). It gives cocoa butter its fat stability and clean crystallisation — important for tempering and shelf life.

Couverture

Ready-made chocolate with a high cocoa-butter content, used for coating and moulding. Made from cocoa mass, cocoa butter and sugar. Buying the raw ingredients instead gives makers full control over recipe and cost.

Bean-to-bar

Making chocolate from scratch — starting with cocoa nibs or mass and grinding and refining in-house — rather than melting pre-made couverture.

Cocoa nibs

Sun-dried cocoa beans cracked into small, crunchy fragments. Pure cocoa, no sugar. Used as inclusions, for snacking, or ground into cocoa mass.

Shea butter

A natural fat from the nut of the wild Vitellaria paradoxa tree in Northern Ghana. Grade A unrefined, used in food and cosmetics.

Certificate of Analysis (COA)

A lab report for a specific batch confirming its chemical and microbiological properties — fat content, moisture, purity and more. Available on request for every batch we supply.

Phytosanitary certificate

An official export document certifying that a plant-based product is free from pests and meets the destination country's import health rules.

Food-grade / cosmetic-grade

Confirms a product is safe and suitable for use in food, or in cosmetics and skincare, respectively. Our cocoa butter and shea butter are both.