For those who love the sweeter things in life, cocoa powder is a must-have pantry staple. Whether it's a necessary ingredient in baking or a finishing touch on the sweetest confections, many people buy cocoa powder at some point in their lives. Therefore, they know what it's meant to look like.
Though cocoa powder can come in a range of shades, anything too out of the ordinary may be perceived as low quality or expired, driving consumers to new brands to find their next container. Measuring the color of your cocoa powder helps maintain quality assurance and keeps your processes running as they should.
What Causes Differences in Cocoa Powder Color?
Most shoppers buy the cheapest or best-looking box of cocoa powder on the shelves, but as someone involved with the product, you should know more about what goes into every box. The three types of cocoa powder each offer a darker, richer color than the one before:
- Natural: Cocoa beans are simply fermented, dried, roasted, and ground, creating a strong flavor and acidic powder. Most products on store shelves are this type, meaning customers are familiar with the light brown color.
- Dutch process: This product comes from beans washed in potassium carbonate. The alkaline solution neutralizes the acidity, influencing how it functions in recipes. This alkalizing process also darkens the powder.
- Black: As the name implies, this powder is almost black. Its deep shade comes from treatment with a stronger alkalizing agent.
Besides color differences between types of cocoa powder, other factors during the production process influence appearance. The cocoa beans that produce each powder have varying levels of acidity, fermentation time, and other factors — all of which impact the appearance of the final result.
Even after production, the look changes. The powder color may degrade during storage due to light, heat, and humidity influences. Identifying differences can support better quality control processes, from production to storage.
Though some of the color differences are not obvious to the human eye, they can affect quality and even taste over time. That is why it is necessary to compare samples and measure results using color measurement equipment like a spectrophotometer from HunterLab.
