Peruvian VRAE Cacao Powder

Peruvian VRAE Cacao Powder 

Organic | Direct-Trade | Natural (Undutched) | Lightly Roasted | 227g & 454g

Real chocolate begins with real cacao.

After cacao beans are fermented, dried, lightly roasted, and ground into cacao paste, the natural cacao butter is gently pressed away. What remains is one of the most nutrient-dense and flavourful ingredients in the chocolate world—natural cacao powder.

Unlike most commercial cocoa powders, our cacao powder is natural (undutched). It is not treated with alkali (potassium carbonate), allowing it to retain more of cacao's naturally occurring flavanols, antioxidants, minerals, and complex flavour compounds.

Dutch processing creates a darker colour, smoother flavour, and greater solubility, but it also alters the original chemistry of the cacao. We prefer to leave nature largely intact.

The result is a vibrant cacao powder with a bold chocolate flavour, bright natural acidity, and exceptional nutritional integrity.

Why you'll love it

• Organic

• Direct Trade

• Natural (Undutched)

• Lightly roasted

• Never Dutch processed

• Rich in naturally occurring flavanols and antioxidants

• Full-bodied chocolate flavour

• Perfect for smoothies, elixirs, baking, hot chocolate, desserts, and chocolate making

Our cacao powder comes from Peru's renowned VRAE region—the Valley of the Apurímac, Ene, and Mantaro Rivers—one of the world's great cacao-growing regions.

How to use

Add to smoothies, elixirs, coffee, hot chocolate, baking, desserts, energy bites, or homemade chocolate. Anywhere you want the authentic taste and benefits of real chocolate.

The Story

The VRAE region is home to an extraordinary diversity of native cacao. This cacao powder begins with a blend of exceptional local varieties including VRAE-15, VRAE-99, Chuncho, Criollo, and Trinitario, cultivated by smallholder farmers between 400 and 1,300 metres above sea level.

After harvest, the beans are carefully fermented for 6–7 days in neutral hardwood boxes, then slowly sun-dried and shade-finished on the farm before being lightly roasted, stone ground, and pressed to separate the cacao butter from the cacao solids.

The result is a remarkably expressive cacao with delicate floral aromatics and subtle notes of soursop, mandarin, custard apple, and mountain herbs—characteristics that remain beautifully present in the finished powder.

Our cacao is sourced through direct trade, ensuring farmers and cooperatives receive prices above Fair Trade minimums while supporting long-term investment in sustainable farming, quality improvement, and community resilience.

Produced through the El Quinacho Cooperative, representing 255 farming families, including 89 women producers, this cacao reflects exceptional stewardship of both people and place.

At Light Cellar, we believe how something is made matters just as much as what it is made from. That's why we choose natural, undutched cacao powder—preserving more of the flavour, complexity, and integrity that make cacao one of the world's most extraordinary foods.