Product Review: Navitas Naturals Cacao Power

Like the organicfair chocolate bars in my previous review, this is definitely not your average supermarket chocolate.  But while organicfair specializes in providing unique flavour combinatons, Navitas Naturals aims to provide ’superfoods’ in their purest, raw form.

I sampled a number of Navitas Naturals products at EPIC, but I completely fell in love with their raw cacao.  Being raw, this line of products (raw powder, nibs, and whole beans) is not for those who only crave sweet chocolate.  It has a sharp taste that many would find bitter.  But as you chew raw chocolate, the rich aroma fills your sinuses in a way that true chocolate lovers dream about, without the distraction of excvessive sweetness.  For those who prefer a bit of sweetness in their chocolate, Navitas Naturals also sells cacao nibs lightly sweetened with cane sugar.

Price-wise, Navitas Naturals products are actually quite competitive when purchased in bulk.  I bought a 454 gram (1 pound) bag of raw cacao nibs for $18 CAD at EPIC (regular website price is $18 USD).  At this price, the cacao nibs are almost 30% cheaper than the fair trade chocolate bars I usually buy.

Navitas Naturals has several goals in producing and distributing their products:

Provide foods that contain essential nutrients in their natural form. Over the last few decades, North Americans have consumed an increasingly processed diet, with essential nutrients destroyed during the processing.  The reaction of our techo-industrialized society has been to provide nutritional supplements as pills, with each nutrient pure and isolated.

More recently, researchers have discovered that certain nutrients cannot be absorbed in isolation; for example, calcium cannot be absorbed without magnesium.  Fortunately, the nutrient combinations your body is able to absorb tend to be found in raw, natural foods, which are packed with flavonoids, phytonutrients, and the vitamins they support.

Support ethical trade and food production. Navitas Naturals sources their products from individual growers around the world.  By not going through commodities brokers whose only concern is finding the lowest price for jobbers and distributors, the company provides steady support for organic agriculture and fair trade, and provides reliable employment for indigenous peoples in the countries where their products are grown.

Conduct an environmentally responsible business. By supporting organic agriculture, Navitas Naturals helps increase the amount of agricultural land that is free from synthetic pesticides and fertilizers.  This reduces the greenhouse gas footprint of the farms, and eliminates the harmful pollution typical of industrialized agriculture.

Educate customers in the preparation of natural, raw foods. The Navitas Naturals website includes an extensive list of recipes featuring their products.  Browsing this section reveals enticing creations such as Chocolate Moose, Acai Catsup, and Crispy Chocolate Chip Cookies.

In addition to cacao, Navitas Naturals’ product line includes goji, acai, chia, camu, flax, goldberries, mulberries, hemp, and more.  See their website for their entire product line.

Responsibility rating

Environmental: Excellent
Social: Excellent
Quality: Excellent
Pricing: Excellent
Overall rating: Truly Excellent!

Location

The map below shows Navitas Naturals’ California and BC locations (in addition to other Buy Right map locations)

View Buy Right map locations in a larger map