Madagascar Cacao Nibs, Fine Chocolate Crushed Cacao Beans
Current price: $14.88
Vanilla Beans
Excellent Product! Excellent Service!
I'm a convert
I've been making my own vanilla extract for over a decade and used to buy my beans based on reviews at a Infamous Global seller. Was never sure what I would get. Then I found this company! The beans were beautiful! Fragrant, moist but not too moist, easy to cut open to expose the seeds and each Bean was six to seven inches long. I'm a happy extract maker! 💝💃🥳
High Quality Vanilla - excellent customer service.
Slo Food group team takes great care of their customers. Received a broken bottle of Vanilla and it was immediately handled. Received my replacement bottle within 3 days.
This extract is used to make our Tahitian Vanilla Cakes!
Great place to get your spices
SLO Food group is the best place I have found to buy my vanilla beans, great customer service, fast shipping and very competitive prices. Thank you for helping me with my project, Vanilla extract. Thank you don young
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Vanilla Beans
Excellent Product! Excellent Service!
I'm a convert
I've been making my own vanilla extract for over a decade and used to buy my beans based on reviews at a Infamous Global seller. Was never sure what I would get. Then I found this company! The beans were beautiful! Fragrant, moist but not too moist, easy to cut open to expose the seeds and each Bean was six to seven inches long. I'm a happy extract maker! 💝💃🥳
High Quality Vanilla - excellent customer service.
Slo Food group team takes great care of their customers. Received a broken bottle of Vanilla and it was immediately handled. Received my replacement bottle within 3 days.
This extract is used to make our Tahitian Vanilla Cakes!
Great place to get your spices
SLO Food group is the best place I have found to buy my vanilla beans, great customer service, fast shipping and very competitive prices. Thank you for helping me with my project, Vanilla extract. Thank you don young
Why Buy Cacao Nibs from Madagascar?
Fruit-Forward Flavor
Naturally fruity undertones set Madagascar cacao apart from the flatter, more one-note bitterness of commodity chocolate, a direct result of the island's unique growing conditions and careful fermentation process.
Compositionally Rich
Cacao nibs naturally contain fiber, minerals like magnesium and iron, and plant compounds called flavanols. A flavorful, low-sugar addition to smoothies, baking, and recipes.
Chef-Grade Cacao Nibs
Rich, chocolatey flavor and premium quality make these cacao nibs ideal for both sweet applications like baking and ice cream, and savory ones like mole sauce or a coffee-and-cacao rub for grilled meats.
Responsibly Sourced and Eco-Friendly
Sourced ethically from sustainable farms in Madagascar, with discarded husks repurposed as compost within local growing communities. Taste the difference of chocolate crafted with care.
Superior Madagascar Cacao Nibs, Roasted for Exceptional Flavor
Discover the rich, chocolatey goodness of our superior Madagascar cacao nibs, made from premium roasted cocoa beans grown in Madagascar's nutrient-rich soils. These finely crafted cacao nibs are celebrated for their bold flavor, natural fruitiness, and exceptional quality, making them a must-have ingredient for any chocolate lover. Perfect as a crunchy snack, a topping for smoothies and desserts, or a flavorful addition to baking, these versatile nibs bring depth and authenticity to your recipes. Ethically sourced and minimally processed, our Madagascar cacao nibs deliver the pure, unadulterated essence of chocolate without any added sugar.
What Are Cacao Nibs?
Where Cocoa Comes From
What Makes This Cocoa Different
Cacao nibs are pieces of roasted cocoa bean, cracked and separated from their outer husk. Unlike cocoa powder or chocolate itself, nibs haven't been ground into a paste or combined with sugar, fat, or other ingredients, they're the closest thing to tasting a cocoa bean in its purest, most unprocessed form. Our Madagascar cacao nibs are crafted from superior quality cocoa beans, roughly 80% criollo and 20% trinitario, grown in the Diana-Ambanja region's Sambirano Valley. The process begins with carefully selecting and harvesting ripe cocoa pods, which are broken open so the pulp and seeds can ferment for five to seven days, the step that develops chocolate flavor and reduces bitterness. After fermentation, the beans are spread out and naturally sun-dried for about six days to reduce moisture, then hand-sorted for quality and gently roasted over an open-air wood fire to deepen their chocolate character. Once roasted, the beans are cracked by hand in a process called winnowing, separating the edible nibs from the outer husk. Discarded husks are put to use as compost within the local villages, nothing goes to waste.
Cocoa originates from the seeds of the Theobroma cacao tree, native to the tropical regions of Central and South America. Today, the majority of the world's cocoa is cultivated in West Africa, with Côte d'Ivoire and Ghana leading global production, but Madagascar has carved out its own reputation for genuinely exceptional, distinctively fruity cacao, a direct result of its unique growing region and traditional processing methods.
Most of the world's chocolate comes from forastero, a hardier, higher-yielding cacao variety that makes up the vast majority of global cocoa production. Criollo is different: it's the original heirloom cacao variety, prized for its complex, delicate flavor, but genuinely difficult to grow, low-yielding, and susceptible to disease. As a result, criollo represents only a small fraction of the world's cocoa supply today. Madagascar is one of the few places where it's still meaningfully cultivated, and our cacao nibs reflect that heritage directly, roughly 80% criollo, a genuinely rare composition compared to the commodity cacao found in most everyday chocolate.
What are Cacao Nibs used for?
Cacao nibs are used to make a variety of chocolate products. Beyond enjoying them in their raw, crunchy form, cacao nibs are the starting point for chocolate liquor, the very foundation of chocolate itself before it's combined with other ingredients through further refinement into the chocolate products we know.
When working with chocolate and cocoa, just like vanilla or other specialty ingredients, variety matters. Criollo and Trinitario are known for more complex, fruity, and floral notes, while Forastero, the variety behind most commercial chocolate, tends to produce a more straightforward, bitter, and earthy flavor. Madagascar has earned a reputation for producing two of the world's finest ingredients, exceptional vanilla and genuinely rare heritage cacao, and our nibs reflect that same commitment to quality Madagascar is world famous for.
If you're thinking about using cacao in your own cooking, try pairing our rich, bittersweet Madagascar cacao nibs with the sweet, buttery and creamy notes of gourmet Madagascar vanilla beans for a perfectly balanced flavor combination in your baking, desserts, or homemade chocolate creations.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Cacao nibs are small, crunchy pieces of roasted cocoa beans that provide a rich chocolate flavor without added sugar or processing. They're versatile and can be used in baking, smoothies, trail mixes, or sprinkled over yogurt, oatmeal, or desserts for a chocolatey crunch.
- Most of the world's chocolate comes from forastero, a hardier, higher-yielding variety. Our cacao nibs are roughly 80% criollo, the original heirloom cacao variety, prized for its complex, delicate flavor but genuinely rare due to low yields and difficulty growing it. Madagascar is one of the few regions where criollo is still meaningfully cultivated.
- Cacao nibs naturally contain fiber, minerals such as magnesium and iron, and flavanols, along with very little sugar, making them a flavorful, low-sugar addition to a variety of recipes.
- Cacao nibs have an intense, bittersweet chocolate flavor with earthy and nutty undertones. Depending on the origin, you may also detect subtle fruity notes, like the bright, tangy character found in our premium Madagascar cacao nibs.
- Madagascar cacao pairs beautifully with Madagascar vanilla, try combining our cacao nibs with our gourmet Madagascar vanilla beans for a perfectly balanced flavor in baking, desserts, or homemade chocolate.
- You can buy premium cacao nibs online at Slofoodgroup. Our Madagascar cacao nibs are responsibly sourced and perfect for home cooks and professional chefs.
