Good reason for our products

The organic coconut oil from SoloCoco is the first and only coconut oil in Europe that is produced and bottled in the Dominican Republic according to the DME process, manually under Fair Trade conditions. No mass production, no intermediate sellers - the coconuts are harvested and processed by our farmers. The SoloCoco organic coconut oil has raw vegetable quality, the coconuts are grated by hand and the graters are gently dried. The temperature never rises above 46°C. Finally, the dried coconut flakes are manually cold pressed without generating any heat. The whole process is carried out mechanically. We do not use any additives, the coconut oil is neither deodorized nor bleached, refined or fractionated. Thus the SoloCoco coconut oil remains native, pure, raw and from first cold pressing.

Coconut oil contains lauric acid and free fatty acids. It is often said that the higher the lauric acid content, the better the coconut oil would be - but this is only partially true. The product can have a high lauric acid content and at the same time a high content of free fatty acids. These free fatty acids make the coconut oil taste unpleasant and quickly turn rancid.

Our SoloCoco organic coconut oil contains more than 50% lauric acid and 10 times less free fatty acids than most coconut oils (the average proportion of fatty acids is 0.2; for SoloCoco it is 0.02). For this reason, SoloCoco Organic Coconut Oil, despite its raw food quality, has a very long shelf life and a unique fresh taste thanks to the fast and cold production of SoloCoco Organic Coconut Oil. (Many other manufacturers press cold, but heat the coconut oil strongly before pressing to guarantee the shelf life).

To us it is very important that our farmers and all other SoloCoco employees are paid according to Fair Trade principles. In addition, a certain amount of money from each product sold is put into a social pot, the use of which is decided by the employees themselves.

SoloCoco currently has 80 employees, including 60 single mothers. We are particularly proud of our single mothers who, thanks to SoloCoco's social projects, have a chance for a better future for themselves and their children.

The grated coconut from which the coconut oil was cold-pressed is gently dried (the temperature never rises above 46°C) and then ground. The finished product is a pure flour, obtained from the meat of the coconut. The darker colour of our flour is a sign that the skin of the coconut meat has not been removed. This in turn means that the flour is more creamy and contains the good nutrients the skin contains.

 It is very important that the production process is free of additives, chemical processes and high temperatures. Thus the product retains its natural consistency and has raw food quality.

The cocoa belt in the central Dominican Republic is the home of the cocoa for SoloCoco. The special blend of Criollo and Forastero, the traditional cocoa varieties, is particularly noteworthy.

Direct after harvesting, the cocoa ferments in red cedar barrels. The beans are dried first on wood and then with a warm air blower. The temperature never rises above 45°C. This ensures that the raw product quality is maintained. In the next step, the cocoa beans are broken and our really tasty and healthy cocoa nibs are finished.

 If you take these nibs and carefully press the fat (i.e. the cocoa butter) out of them, a so called press cake is formed. This is finely ground and we receive our cocoa powder. This procedure ensures a taste experience that is much richer and fuller than with most other cocoas.

There are good reasons why the Incas called the cocoa a drink of the gods. When you open the package, you will immediately be enveloped in the scents that Christopher Columbus must have had around him when he entered the island of Hispaniola as the first European more than 500 years ago.

Through SoloCoco's gentle and chemical-free processing, you receive cocoa products that contain more than 300 different healthy nutrients. The proportion of antioxidants occupies a very special position. With SoloCoco the proportion is at least four times higher than with dark chocolate and actually 20 times higher than with blueberries. Serotonin, also known as happiness hormone, is added to this. This results from the digestive process of theobromine, another important ingredient of our cocoa. Theobromine is Greek and by the way means "gods food".

Certified Fair Trade processes and their regular inspection are a self-evident part of SoloCoco. Accordingly, there is no verifiable incidence of child labour. SoloCoco sends children to school and not to work. Above-average wages, training and promotion of employees are a standard. Likewise, it is the social projects for which a defined share of the proceeds is provided and which are used under the joint responsibility of the employees.

In addition to the social fair trade projects, raw food quality is another important difference that is lost when, as with most manufacturers, the Dutch process (alkalisation) is used and/or the dried cocoa beans are roasted. In the Dutch process, the fermented and dried beans are placed in a lye solution at approx. 125°C and soaked. The aim is to reduce the relatively sour taste that is produced during fermentation and at the same time make the colour slightly darker. This takes up to 2 days, but can be reduced to less than an hour by using a pressure cooker. Of course, after this process the quality of the raw food is broken and between 60 and 90% of the antioxidants are destroyed. This also massively reduces the cancer-reducing effect which many scientists assume. In addition, antioxidants are thought to slow down skin aging and wrinkling. Some major manufacturers also claim that this Dutch process is necessary for the cocoa to dissolve better in water. The same is true of the acid taste. This has not yet been scientifically proven. Just test it yourself!

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