13 Reasons Why Heart-Conscious Australians Are Swapping Their Morning Coffee for a Chocolatey Cup of Cacao (And Actually Sticking With It)
Summary: Swapping the morning coffee for ceremonial cacao keeps the ritual and changes what's in the mug. Ceremonial cacao carries the plant compounds researchers study for healthy blood flow, and it tastes like real dark chocolate, so people actually stick with it.
Illustration of what the 2006 study measured, not a test of our cacao.
1. It's made from the whole cacao bean, the one researchers study for healthy blood flow
Healthy blood vessels widen when the body needs more blood flow, then settle back. That widening is what researchers measure when they study flavanols, the plant compounds in cacao beans, and healthy blood flow. Ceremonial cacao is the whole bean, made into a morning cup that tastes like dark chocolate.
2. It replaces the morning coffee that's started making the heart race
You keep the same mug, the same kettle and the same spot at the kitchen table, and change what goes in the cup: about the same caffeine as a strong cup of tea, which is a fraction of coffee's, plus theobromine, a different compound with a longer, gentler curve. You keep the morning ritual and lose the jitter-and-crash cycle.
Illustration of what the 2006 study measured, not a test of our cacao.
3. Researchers showed, in people, that the widening depended on the body's own nitric oxide
In a 2006 human study published in PNAS, artery widening rose within one to four hours of a single high-flavanol cocoa drink (a specially made research drink, not our cacao). When researchers blocked nitric oxide, the molecule vessel walls use to relax, the effect disappeared. That's how they showed the flavanols worked through the body's own nitric oxide.
4. Two Perth locals started it in a home garage, with nothing added and nothing taken out
Cacao Collective began with two Perth locals in a home garage who wanted to leave the bean alone. It's the whole Peruvian bean, fermented, dried and ground with the cacao butter still in, then shaved into flakes. They honestly wondered if anyone would drink it. Now it's a female and Australian owned company, and it ships from Melbourne.
5. It tastes like real dark chocolate, which is why people keep drinking it
A healthy habit only works if you keep doing it, and people tend to keep the ones they look forward to. Ceremonial cacao tastes like rich, real dark chocolate with no added sugar. It can taste a little bitter at the start, until a splash of milk or honey sorts it.
Melts beautifully, rich, creamy, no need for sweeteners. Me time I look forward to every day. On my 4th reorder.★★★★★ Suzana B., verified customer, September 2026
12346. It's ready in under a minute, hot or iced
15g of flakes in a mug, hot water or milk, then a 10-second blend until it froths. The flakes come pre-shaved, so they melt straight in with no grating or chopping. On hot days, blend it and pour it over ice. It works in any mug already in the cupboard, so there's nothing new to buy.
Alkalised cocoa powderOur flakes, never alkalised7. A lot of supermarket cocoa is alkalised, which strips out most of the plant compounds
Plenty of supermarket cocoa is alkalised, also called Dutching, to make it darker and milder. A 2008 study of commercial cocoa powders found that step strips most of the flavanols: about 34.6 mg per gram in natural cocoa, about 3.9 mg in heavily Dutched cocoa. Ceremonial Cacao is never alkalised. Ours is the whole paste, shaved into flakes.
8. A lab tested one lot for heavy metals: lead came back below detection
Heavy metals are a fair question with any cacao. When lot 110320112 went to a laboratory, lead came back below the lab's detection limit and aflatoxins were not detected. Cadmium measured 0.416 mg/kg, under Australia's 0.5 mg/kg limit for chocolate and cocoa products. It's single-origin Peruvian cacao, from an Australian owned company.
9. About $1.97 a cup, and it replaces the coffee instead of adding one more thing
Ceremonial cacao takes the place of the morning flat white or pod, and it can stand in for the "healthy" dark chocolate bar too, instead of adding another thing to remember. On the 500g bag it works out at about $1.97 a cup, for one ingredient: 100% Peruvian cacao.
10. Stock up on the 1kg bag: about $1.67 a cup, or about $1.33 on subscription
We suggest a cup every day, so the 1kg bag is the better buy: about 66 cups at about $1.67 each. Subscribe and save 20% and it drops to about $1.33 a cup, delivered every 30 or 60 days. You won't need a trip to the shops when the bag runs low.
11. 40,000 Australians drink it, and it's rated 4.9 from 1,200+ reviews
40,000 Australians drink it, and the reviews read like a morning routine people have settled into: coffee swapped out, reorders on the fourth bag, and the odd honest note about bitterness at the start. Every quote here is real and verbatim, from a customer on the site, with their name as it appears there.
Every afternoon I’d look forward to my cup of coffee and a biscuit but now I look forward to my cup of Ceremonial Cacao and no biscuit. I’ll definitely be purchasing again.
Since trying Cacao Collective’s ceremonial cacao 4 months ago, I’ve switched almost totally from coffee to cacao. Love it!
Love this product! I enjoy sitting and looking outside at the garden and trees as I sip my morning cup of Cacao. I did find it a little bitter to start with but have now become accustomed to it.
12. You can skip, pause or cancel the subscription anytime
A lot of people worry about getting stuck in a subscription. There's no lock-in: you can skip, pause or cancel anytime, or buy a single bag to try it first. Orders ship from Melbourne by Australia Post: express post takes 3 to 5 business days, standard post 7 to 10.
About $1.33 a cup on subscription
1kg $109.95 or $87.96 on subscription
500g $64.95 or $51.96 on subscription
Buy once, or subscribe and save 20%. Skip, pause or cancel anytime.
Shop Ceremonial Cacao →4.9 from 1,200+ reviews
on orders over $150
Ships from Melbourne by Australia Post: express post 3 to 5 business days, standard 7 to 10.