Cocoa Power!
The supplements brand Cocoapower are helping every child access high quality vitamins in a tasty healthy form. These are supplements not fortified food products and they are allergen free, except from dairy.
They do not contain added sweeteners, refined sugar or preservatives. Apart from helping parents get the good stuff into their little ones, and bonus, you can enjoy them too!
So what’s your purpose and mission?
To make life easier for parents, particularly those with picky eaters, and to ensure children get a nutritional boost in the easiest way possible.
We currently have two products on the market: a multivitamin chocolate supplement containing vitamins A, C, and D as recommended by the NHS, and a probiotic chocolate supplement with live cultures to provide tummies with gut-friendly bacteria.
Who are your products designed for and why ?
Cocoa Power products are for all children, to make supplements fun, providing an alternative to sugar and sweetener-laden gummies. Our products are particularly useful for parents of picky eaters or those with sensitivities to taste and textures, regarding vitamins such as gummies or oils. Our products are vegetarian, gluten-free, and suitable for those who suffer from Coeliac disease.
Can you tell us about the evidence of absorbency in this form
Chocolate is an ideal delivery mechanism for bioactive compounds due to its fat matrix, pleasant taste and texture, as well as its protective properties during digestion. One major advantage is its ability to mask unpleasant flavours, making it easier to incorporate ingredients that might otherwise be off-putting.
Additionally, several studies have found chocolate an effective delivery mechanism for probiotics, as the live culture survival rate to the gut is shown to be higher than in capsule form.
Can you share the story behind your brand and how it all started?
When my son was young, he was diagnosed with a vitamin D deficiency. Despite having a healthy balanced diet, rich in vitamin D. We were advised to give him supplements. However, he just would not take any of the vitamins on the market. He would reject oils, spit out anything we slipped into his food/drink, and did not like the taste/texture of gummies (nor did we want to give them to him at such a young age!).
I was told time and time again by various health professionals how important it is for children to have vitamins A, C & D supplements. He just wouldn’t take them! I tried every single available form and taste available. No success.
All of the supplements had added refined sugar and sweeteners, which I did not want to introduce to his diet at such an early age, and when I consulted a dietitian,
Cocoa Power Supplements come in a handy tamper proof pouch
I was told sweeteners aren’t advised for under 3s, so I definitely wanted to avoid these. I was at a loss and feeling quite down about how I couldn’t get something so vital into him.
I used to make healthy chocolate for my husband and me, which we both loved, then one day I decided to give my son some, as hey, there was nothing nasty in it, and wow – he would gobble this! My son, an incredibly picky eater, loved it! I started adding vitamins to this and found he would take them!
As he became older he would even remind me ‘Mummy, my chocolate vitamins’! Friends started becoming interested, and many confided that their children also wouldn’t take the traditional vitamins, and so I started handing them out to friends. Their kids loved it too!
I decided I wanted to start making larger quantities and so my husband and I began the journey of chocolate making and got some machinery to play around with formulas at home. It took about 50 formula revisions and many willing participants to taste different formulas for us, but we finally found the winning recipe.
How should they be consumed ?
Each serving consists of 2 x 3 gram chocolate clouds, we suggest one serving daily.
How are ingredients sourced and can we be assured of quality ?
We only use ethically sourced cocoa from South America. All ingredients are fully traceable. End products are independently lab-tested for active ingredients and microbiology.
Where can readers find out more and buy your products?
Instagram: @cocoapowerchocolate