Cocoa-liquor and cocoa-mass trade begins with processed-product identity, composition and lot evidence—not a generic cocoa label. Codex CXS 141-1983 defines cocoa mass or cocoa liquor as the product obtained from cocoa nib from merchantable cocoa beans that have been cleaned and freed from shells as thoroughly as technically possible, with or without roasting. A comparable physical offer identifies cocoa mass or liquor, bean and processing origin where available, roasting and grinding process, alkalization or other permitted treatment, cocoa-butter content, shell and germ basis, contaminant and microbiological controls, production and packing dates, lot, package or bulk format, net weight, quantity, currency, Incoterm, destination, delivery window and information vintage.
The figures below are current requirements from the FAO/WHO Codex Standard for Cocoa (Cacao) Mass (Cocoa/Chocolate Liquor) and Cocoa Cake, CXS 141-1983, amended in 2025. The standard defines product identity and composition boundaries; it does not establish current availability, a physical offer, a futures value or a live delivered cocoa-liquor price.
CXS 141-1983 treats cocoa mass and cocoa liquor as names for the ground cocoa-nib product. Cocoa cake is the product left after partial or complete removal of fat from cocoa nib or mass, while cocoa butter is the separated fat. Beans, nibs, powder and finished chocolate are also distinct commercial identities. Atlas retains exact product form, processing state and intended use before comparing quality, price or trade records.
The current Codex standard requires cocoa mass or liquor to contain at least 47 percent and no more than 60 percent cocoa butter by mass. Atlas keeps the product name, result, analytical basis, sample, method, laboratory, certificate and test date together. Those limits describe product composition; they do not make a cocoa-bean, cake, powder or butter observation interchangeable with a cocoa-liquor lot.
For cocoa mass or liquor, Codex permits a maximum of 5 percent cocoa shell and germ on the fat-free dry matter or, when cocoa shell alone is measured, a maximum of 1.75 percent on an alkali-free basis. Cocoa cake has a different shell-only maximum. Atlas therefore preserves which determination was used, the moisture and fat basis, sample, method, laboratory and standard vintage instead of comparing bare percentages.
Codex requirements establish identity and composition, not current availability or price. A delivered cocoa-liquor price still requires exact product and processing state, origin and production vintage, current permitted physical observations, analytical results, lot quantity, package or bulk format, currency, Incoterm, destination, delivery window, freight and information vintage. Atlas withholds unsupported physical pricing when those fields or usage rights are missing and never substitutes cocoa-bean futures or another cocoa-product value.
Yes. CXS 141-1983 uses cocoa mass and cocoa liquor for the product obtained by grinding cleaned cocoa nib, with or without roasting and permitted processing.
The current standard sets a range from 47 to 60 percent by mass. The product, sample, method and test date remain attached to the result.
No. Liquor or mass is the ground nib product, cake follows partial or complete fat removal, and cocoa butter is the separated fat. Each needs its own identity, composition and lot evidence.
Product identity, bean and processing origin where available, roasting, grinding and treatment state, cocoa-butter content, shell and germ result with analytical basis, safety evidence, production and packing dates, lot, package or bulk format, quantity, currency, Incoterm, destination, delivery window and evidence date.
Figures retain their source, period and review date. Corroboration is not promoted to primary evidence.