Cocoa Beans
Cocoa Beans are the unprocessed, dried, and fermented seeds of Theobroma cacao, the raw agricultural commodity from which all chocolate and cocoa products are made.
Each bean is roughly 1 to 3 grams in weight and made up of two cotyledons wrapped in a thin papery shell. Internal composition averages 50 to 55 percent cocoa butter, 12 to 15 percent protein, and 6 to 10 percent polyphenols on a dry basis.
We source bulk Cocoa Beans from top China manufacturers for our partners. The manufacturer is in Jiangsu. A smaller requirement can ship in a combined container with other ingredients.
Please send the grade you need, the volume and your destination port, and we will come back with a solution and a price.
or call +86-21-6858 0751
- Packaging
- 25 kg kraft paper bag with PE inner liner
- ISO 9001
- HACCP
- Halal
- Kosher
Specifications
Grades / Types Available: Food Grade, Feed Grade
| Item | Specification |
|---|---|
| Appearance | Whole fermented and dried beans |
| Moisture | ≤ 7.5% |
| Fat Content | 50-55% |
| Bean Count | 80-110 beans/100g |
| Broken Beans | ≤ 5% |
| Mouldy Beans | ≤ 4% |
| Foreign Matter | ≤ 0.5% |
| Slaty Beans | ≤ 4% |
| Purity (Food Grade) | ≥ 99% |
| Moisture/Loss on Drying | ≤ 7% |
| pH | 5.0 - 6.5 |
| Ash | ≤ 5% |
| Heavy Metals | Complies with regulations |
| Lead | ≤ 0.1 mg/kg |
| Arsenic | ≤ 0.1 mg/kg |
| Total Plate Count | ≤ 1000 cfu/g |
| Yeast & Mold | ≤ 100 cfu/g |
Common Markets Grades
Cocoa beans are graded by origin, fermentation quality, and physical defects.
The ICCO classifies beans into bulk (Forastero) and fine flavour (Criollo, Trinitario, and select Nacional) categories. About 95 percent of world supply is bulk, while fine flavour beans command a premium for craft chocolate work.
Bean size is described by count per 100 grams. Premium West African and Indonesian shipments fall in the 80 to 100 range, while Ecuadorian Arriba can run lower at 70 to 85.
Cut tests grade the interior colour and structure. Grade I beans show no more than 3 percent mouldy, 3 percent slaty, and 3 percent total defects, with at least 60 percent fully fermented brown beans.
Specialty single-origin lots are sold under farm or cooperative names with traceability documentation, fermentation protocols, and sensory profiles attached to each container.
Applications
- Industrial chocolate manufacture as the starting feedstock for nibs, mass, butter, and powder
- Craft and bean-to-bar chocolate production by small-scale roasters and chocolatiers
- Direct roasting and grinding for artisanal hot-chocolate preparation
- Cocoa butter extraction for confectionery, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical use
- Cocoa powder pressing for bakery and beverage applications
- Sourcing input for traceable, single-origin, and certified (organic, fair trade) chocolate lines
- Specialty roasting houses producing flavoured or spiced drinking-chocolate blends
- Confectionery and bakery operators wanting full in-house control of roast profile
- Cosmetic raw-material processors extracting cocoa butter and polyphenol fractions
- Research and quality laboratories evaluating origin character, defect rates, and flavour potential
Brands Using Cocoa Beans
Widely-distributed consumer products that list Cocoa Beans on the ingredient label.
- Theo ChocolatePure 85% Dark Chocolate Bar ↗Listed: 'Cocoa Beans*+, Cane Sugar*+, Cocoa Butter*+, Ground Vanilla Bean*'.Label verified 2026-05-24
- Taza Chocolate70% Deliciously Dark Chocolate Bar ↗Listed: 'Organic Cacao Beans, Organic Cane Sugar, Organic Cocoa Butter.'Label verified 2026-05-24
- Taza Chocolate87% Seriously Dark Chocolate Bar ↗Listed: 'Organic Cacao Beans, Organic Cane Sugar, Organic Cocoa Butter.'Label verified 2026-05-24
- Dandelion ChocolateChocolate-Covered Espresso Beans (70% Camino Verde) ↗Listed: 'Dandelion 70% Camino Verde, Ecuador chocolate (cocoa beans, organic cane sugar), Ritual Coffee roasted espresso beans, cocoa butter'.Label verified 2026-05-24
Brand names, product names and logos are the property of their owners. They appear here as published evidence that the ingredient is used, taken from the brand's own label or website. Their appearance is not an endorsement, and it does not mean the brand buys from us or from any manufacturer listed on this site.
China Manufacturers of Cocoa Beans
Top Cocoa Beans manufacturers in China.
Company names and logos are the property of the manufacturers themselves. They are listed here because our own directory records them as producing this ingredient. A listing is not an endorsement by them, and we do not represent them or speak on their behalf.
How We Help Source Cocoa Beans
Direct Factory Sourcing
We run the whole process: selecting the manufacturer from the top Chinese food ingredient producers, negotiating the price, verifying quality, and coordinating the logistics. You deal with us instead of with several factories at once.
Original Packaging and Documents from the Manufacturer
The manufacturer sends your Cocoa Beans out of its own factory in the original packing, through to your destination port. The COA, COO, MSDS, TDS and any certifications reach you from the manufacturer as well.
Free Samples and Lead Time
We send 100 to 500 g free for your own laboratory to test and you cover only the courier, usually within 2 to 3 working days. ETD is usually within 7 to 15 days once the order is confirmed, and we check that date against the factory's own manufacturing schedule before we give it to you.
Combined Shipment
We can load Cocoa Beans together with other ingredients such as Instant Coffee, Instant Tea and Tea Concentrate into one 20' FCL. If your quantity is small, we can also ship LCL.
Regulatory Status
Cocoa beans move in international trade as an unprocessed agricultural commodity.
The International Cocoa Organisation (ICCO) maintains reference standards and the Model Ordinance for cocoa quality. Producing-country grading marques (Ghana Grade I, Ivory Coast bonne fermentation) are recognised in commercial contracts.
EU Regulation 2017/2158 on acrylamide and Regulation 2021/1323 on cadmium apply only at the finished-product stage, but origin awareness starts at the bean level. Pesticide MRLs follow EU Regulation 396/2005 and corresponding national rules in importing markets.
The 2023 EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) places traceability and due-diligence obligations on cocoa beans entering the EU market, requiring geolocation data for the producing plot.
Halal, Kosher, organic (EU, USDA NOP, JAS), Fairtrade, Rainforest Alliance, and UTZ-merged certifications are all available at the bean level. Phytosanitary certificates are required for export shipments.
Manufacturing Process
Cacao trees crop year-round in the wet tropics. Pods are cut from the trunk and main branches with a curved knife, then split open by hand or wooden mallet within a few days of harvest.
Beans are scooped out together with their sweet mucilage and piled in wooden boxes, banana-leaf heaps, or perforated trays. Fermentation runs five to seven days. Yeasts metabolize the sugars first, then acetic and lactic bacteria take over as the temperature climbs to about 50 degrees Celsius.
The acid and heat penetrate the seed coat, kill the germ, and trigger the enzymatic reactions that will later express as chocolate flavour on roasting.
Fermented beans are spread on raised platforms or patios and sun-dried for one to two weeks. Final moisture is brought to 7 to 7.5 percent, the level at which microbial activity stops and shelf life extends to a year or more.
Dried beans are bagged in 60 to 65 kilogram jute sacks or shipped in bulk containers fitted with moisture barriers. Quality is verified by cut test, moisture meter, and visual inspection at the export warehouse.
