He also noted that fresh cocoa beans are softer and have a nuttier flavor than their dried cocoa nib counterparts. Cacao fruit is packed with vitamins, minerals and compounds that have multiple ...

A close-up of an opened cacao fruit, next to cocoa beans and cocoa powder on a rough wooden table - wasanajai/Shutterstock ...

On the rainy side of Hawai‘i Island, Daeus Bencomo steps through fresh mud in his cowboy boots, rows of leafy cacao trees on either side of him. He grips a bright orange pod and slices it neatly at ...