Cocoa Powder

Natural & alkalised — 10-12% and 20-22% fat

Cocoa powder is what remains after the butter is pressed out of liquor, milled to a fine powder, and it divides on one processing decision that changes almost everything about how it behaves. Natural powder is untreated, acidic at pH 5.3 to 5.8, lighter reddish-brown, and fruitier and sharper in flavour — and because it is acidic it reacts with baking soda, which is why traditional American baking recipes pair the two. Alkalised or Dutch-processed powder has been treated with an alkali to raise pH to roughly 6.8 to 8.1, which darkens the colour from deep brown through to near-black, mellows the flavour, and greatly improves dispersion in milk and water. That dispersion is why drinking chocolate, dairy and beverage manufacture almost always specify alkalised. Fat content is the other axis: 10 to 12% is the standard grade, 20 to 22% high fat for richer applications, and defatted powders below 1% exist for specific formulations.

Match the powder to the process, not to price. Alkalised for beverages, ice cream, dairy, and any application where colour depth and clean dispersion matter; natural for baking where it must react with soda, and where a fruitier, sharper cocoa note is wanted. High-fat powder for premium ice cream and coatings where mouthfeel matters; standard fat for volume bakery and beverage. The market dynamic to keep in view is the ratio against butter — a grinder produces both from the same liquor, so powder is cheap when butter demand is strong and dear when it is not, and powder buyers who track only their own price are consistently surprised. CBIL brokers cocoa powder against fat content, pH, colour, fineness, moisture and microbiology, in 25 kg multiwall bags, on FOB and CIF terms.