A highly curated and consistently updated list of recommended cocoa powders that I have personally researched and meet my rigorous standards. These standards include reduced heavy metal contamination, ethically sourced, and transparent business practices. There are thousands of companies that offer cacao powders and/or products and when looking at a full page of supposed healthy and organic powders, you can easily get lost in the misinformation and misleading marketing jargon. This list exists to provide you an informed shopping experience so you can buy your cacao products with confidence. This list is in no particular order.
The content below contains affiliate links. If you purchase something using my links, I may earn affiliate commission. Commission allows me to continue upgrading the website and researching new products (I am a one person show and this takes an incredible amount of time to research).
Ghirardelli Majestic Premium Cocoa Powder, 32 oz (Alkalized)
Ghirardelli, who is owned by Lindt, is one of the most well known brands of chocolate makers. To the surprise of many, when third-party tested by As You Sow, Ghirardelli managed to consistently test below or barely over for heavy metal contamination. I wasn’t prepared to read that Ghirardelli puts a lot of emphasis on ethical sourcing, considering the negative association with other mainstream brands. There’s too much to write about but they cover community development, bean traceability, ethical treatment of farmers, agroforestry, and much more. Visit their Farming Program website to see what else they do. Ghirardelli’s cacao is sourced from the common regions of Africa, South America, and even Papua New Guinea. From all account, Ghirardelli is running a clean operation.
Navitas Organics Organic Cacao Powder, 24oz (Non-Alkalized)
Navitas Organics makes a serious effort to provide you with good quality cacao products. They also disclose their heavy metal testing results, however, it’s not dated but are well below MADL. The results are well under the maximum limit and their lead levels are nearly non-existent. The company puts strong emphasis on regenerative agriculture to enhance soil health, animal welfare, and worker working conditions. Navitas is sources their cacao from the popular region of Dominican Republic, which has seen an uptick in higher quality cacao instead of the usual African or South American varieties. Farmers are paid over farm gate prices and the quality matches it. Navitas is found in many health food stores and is considered an excellent cocoa powder.
To’ak 100% Full Spectrum Cacao Powder, 6.5oz (Non-Alkalized)
Introducing a company that takes some effort to find, this is To’ak, an incredibly high quality cacao provider that sources all of their cacao out of Ecuador. To’ak sources cacao known as “nacional”, a hybrid variety of the Criollo cacao tree dating back many thousands of years. Due to the scarcity and consistent maintenance of this variety, it’s highly sought after by cacao enthusiasts. As for metal contamination, they fall below the MADL. If price isn’t a concern, To’ak might be the experience you’re looking for.
King Arthur Flour Company (Alkalized)
King Arthur is well known for their baking flour, but they also manufacture many cocoa powders, explicitly for the purpose of baking. This means their cocoa powders are all going to be alkalized. I’ve read through their entire 2023 Impact Report and came across nothing about suppliers. They also do not disclose testing on any of their products. However, they do have a strict Supplier Code of Conduct that lists all the requirements to be a supplier for King Aurther. My reluctance to put them on this list is that without any transparency, we have no idea if any of these requirements are upheld. But research shows they are a good company to work for and their products are consistently higher quality.
Guittard Chocolate Company (Alkalized)
Guittard Chocolate Company is an old company dating back 155 years ago during the gold rush of California. Today, the company focuses on ethical sourcing of cacao from their three regions, Ghana, Ivory Coast, and Ecuador. Reading their 2023 Impact Report provides a level of transparency not often seen. Guittard is deeply involved with eliminating child slave labor, improving cacao growing conditions, and much more than can fit in a blurb here. Guittard is another company that doesn’t provide metal testing (it’s quite rare to find one that does), but third part tests show their chocolates are typically below contamination limits.
Cacao Barry (Alkalized)
Cacao Barry is another 150 year old, French-based cacao company that specializes in bean-to-bar chocolate products, cocoa powders included. As per usual, no testing is made available, but they do show their entire company history and have some sustainability information on their site. By the looks of it, they partnered with a non-profit organization called Cocoa Horizons, where Cacao Barry is one of the major contributors and possibly part of the creation of Cocoa Horizons. Cacao Barry mostly sells alkalized cacao, but they do have a couple natural options.
Valrhona (Alkalized)
Val’s packaging leaves a lot to be desired, let’s just get that out of the way. And the fact they only have 1,100 reviews on Amazon means many share that sentiment. Valrhona is, yet again, another French founding, century old chocolate company with a lengthy and rich history. They are one of the better companies on Amazon that more than surpasses a majority of brands. Surprisingly, they make public their metal testing, but not easily found mind you, and they test well under the MADL limits. Valrhona sources their cacao from a multitude of regions ranging from Ivory Coast to Venezuela. There’s a strong emphasis on ethically sourcing the cacao and many programs to improve the lives of farmers and ensure high quality cacao. Valrhona even goes as far as to disclose the cooperatives they work with in each region, which is a very welcomed act of transparency. For example, they work with Ecookim in Côte d’Ivoire since 2014 and you can read more about the cooperative on their site found here. As for Valrhona’s cocoa powder, it is alkalized but contains 21% cocoa fat which is quite uncommon for Dutched cocoa powders. This means the powder will have a greater range of uses while still having a rich, chocolate flavor. Based on the lack of reviews and popularity, Valrhona is making some of the best cacao on Amazon’s platform. Definitely would recommend.
