Cocoa powder is an unsweetened powder produced by grinding the seeds of the fruit of a tropical evergreen tree called the cacao, or cocoa tree.

These seeds, or beans, are first fermented and then dried and roasted. After roasting, the beans have their hulls removed and are then processed to extract their fat, which is known as cocoa butter. The leftover solids are further ground into what eventually is sold as cocoa powder.

Cocoa butter is in turn one of the key ingredients in bar chocolate, along with sugar, cocoa powder and some form of emulsifier such as lecithin, to hold them all together.