Surprising uses of cacao that go beyond chocolate

Free Malaysia Today

23-06-2025

The by-products from cocoa production has many surprising uses. (Envato Elements pic)
PARIS : Cacao beans have uses that go beyond being the base ingredient of our favourite chocolate treats or beverages. Today, cacao beans are processed in all sorts of ways to make the most of every part of the bean.
Here are a few examples of how the waste created from their processing can be utilised.
Cacao water
Mucilage is the white, fleshy pulp that surrounds fresh beans – and the South American workers who harvest the pods have long been used to sucking this white material like candy.
There are now several ways to make use of this raw material, such as by producing cacao water. A simple cold extraction process produces a juice with a tangy taste that is rich in antioxidants and theobromine, an energiser similar to caffeine.
According to the US-based Blue Stripes brand, a 300ml carton of cacao water has twice the antioxidant power of a handful of blueberries.
This new drink is really only at the beginning of its story, but it already seems to be on the road to success. At the end of 2021, chocolate giant Barry Callebaut announced that it had spotted a new opportunity by launching its very first functional beverage, made from cacao fruit.
Fine-dining dessert creations
In the world of pastry, mucilage is a novel ingredient some top chefs are experimenting with. Its fruity flavour has serious potential for creating a new kind of chocolate dessert.
At the Four Seasons George V hotel in Paris, the young prodigy Michaël Bartocetti sources it from Vietnam to create some fascinating and flavoursome fine-dining afters.
Mucilage – the white, fleshy pulp that surrounds cacao beans inside the pod – is now being used in products such as cacao water, fine desserts, and even fragrances. (TechnicoFlor pic
Building material
In Ecuador, an architectural project aims to build an eco-village made up of sustainable buildings constructed from recycled cacao-bean waste. This raw material gets fed into 3D printers to produce fibres capable of constructing buildings in an area traditionally used for cacao cultivation.
Ecuadorian brand Muze Cacao is a partner for this vast project.
Cosmetics
In Ivory Coast, the leading cacao-producing country, the founder of luxury chocolate brand Le Chocolatier Ivoirien recently initiated a project to recycle cacao beans into powder for use in makeup foundation.
The entrepreneur is turning the technique of using cocoa powder as a foundation for black skin into a commercial venture. This trick was reportedly used by famed makeup artist Pat McGrath when discussing the beauty industry's long journey to producing for diverse skin tones.
Fragrance
It's only a short step from cosmetics to perfumery: the TechnicoFlor group, which develops aromatic compositions for perfume houses, has unveiled some surprising fragrances all based on the reuse of waste products, including cacao and mucilage extracted from pods.
Indeed, it's clear the versatile cacao bean has more surprising uses than merely for candy or hot cocoa!