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Frequently Asked Questions

Products

You can shop with confidence knowing we source our products from fairly traded smallholder organic farms.

We believe it is essential that producers receive a fair price for their cacao. This not only offers farmers a proper income for their families and livelihoods but also enables investments to be made in local communities, providing opportunities for education and health as well as sustainable agricultural infrastructure.

 The majority of the world’s cocoa is not fairly traded and is grown by vulnerable smallholder farmers or plantations that commonly use child slavery in developing countries.

 Fairy traded sustainable cacao helps break the cycle of poverty and brings dignity to indigenous communities. So you can add it to your diet with no guilt… just good old chocolatey deliciousness

All our products are certified organic by the ACO.

We thoughtfully and ethically source all our products from organic small holder farms across the globe and in Australia. For more information please refer to the description under the individual product page or the back of your pack.

You can shop with us online for Australia wide delivery and free shipping over $60, or find us in a variety of good health grocers and selected supermarkets nationwide.

Please let us know if you would like to see our products in a health food store near you and we will do our best to make it happen. To find your nearest stockist, please contact our customer service team via the contact form or phone us at Organic Trader on (02) 8399 0122

Some of our products, in particular Beetroot Powder and Elderberry Powder are prone to clumping and hardening. This is because:


• They are 100% premium quality superfoods with no additives, fillers, excipients, anticaking agents or binders added to prevent clumping.
• In Australia humidity levels can be high.
• Beetroot and Elderberry are hygroscopic (easily absorb moisture).
• Beetroot in particular has seasonal variation and the higher the natural sugar content of the batch, the more likely it is to clump.

To restore hardened superfoods.


Bash the plastic tub on the edge of a table to loosen the compacted powder. The soft plastic of the tub can cope with some whacking. If in a pouch, you can break apart the clumps by manipulating the pack with your hands.


To prevent clumping once you’ve bought your superfoods home.


• Never use a wet spoon.
• Close the lid quickly after using.
• Use the superfoods frequently and if not using often, regularly (weekly) open and give them a shake or stir.
• Store in a cool dry environment – you can even keep your powders in the fridge or freezer.
• Release air from any pouches by pushing it out prior to sealing
• Leave the dessicant in the tub or pouch until the product is finished.
• If transferring to another container, ensure it is super dry.

Remember:
Clumped or hardened superfoods within date are still perfectly good to use and do not indicate spoilage.

Most of our products are raw with a few exceptions such as gelatinized maca which undergoes gentle low temperature heating to remove most of the starches for those that may find raw maca difficult to digest. Our Elderberry Powder is also gently heat treated for safety as raw elderberries can be strong on digestion. Some of our products undergo minimal and gentle low temperature processing using traditional methods, where possible, in order to preserve the vital nutrients of the superfood.The claim ‘raw’ is not regulated by law, meaning many brands and products carry this claim, however no one standardised definition exists. We are always focused on product quality, taste and purity as well as sustainability.

All ingredients including raw imported or made in Australia must adhere to strict guidelines set by food authorities in each state. As such they are tested within strict parameters that we abide by to ensure you only receive the best quality, safest and nutritionally exceptional products.

Our elderberry powder is a whole fruit powder that includes fibre and potent plant compounds. Elderberry is generally well tolerated but we recommend you start with half to one teaspoon, consume with other foods and assess how it makes you feel. Elderberries used for our powder have had any toxins neutralised that might otherwise cause digestive upset. Elderberries like our other superfoods are foods not supplements to support rather than cure an ailment or condition. We include recommended serving sizes on the packaging to assist you. If you have specific questions relating to elderberry and your health issues we recommend you speak with your health practitioner.

We recommend you store your products in a cool dark and dry place and always fully seal the packaging after use. Antioxidants, in particular, require protection from light, heat and moisture so its best to keep our superfoods inside their original packaging to maintain their freshness and nutritional benefits.

If you can’t see your question in this list, please check the individual product pages first and then contact us via the contact form

Allergies

Whilst our products do not contain gluten from their plant source, we don’t test our products for gluten contamination. We do not process or pack products containing gluten in the same production line and regularly clean and sterilize our equipment to the highest of standards in food safety, however, we can’t guarantee they contain no traces due to lack of third party testing.

We do not process nuts or nut based ingredients in our facility (nor dairy, gluten, soy or egg) however we don’t currently have independent testing for traces of these ingredients. Therefore we cannot make “free from” claims on our packaging.

Maca

The maca used in our Gelatinised Maca and Raw Maca products is grown organically in Peru in the Junin region 4300m above sea level. Creating economic opportunities in an otherwise unproductive land, our fairly traded maca provides positive outcomes for small-scale Peruvian farmers through economic and social empowerment.

We use a blend of red, yellow and black Peruvian maca varieties to provide overall benefits for health and wellbeing. The approximate amounts are 60% yellow, 25% red and 15% black. 

Our dried maca powder is produced the traditional way using a sun drying process that does not involve high temperature heat treatment.

Gelatinised Maca is still vegan and does not contain gelatin. It has undergone a gentle process to break down most of the starches to make it easier to digest for some people. It also has a slightly toastier taste and darker colour to Raw Maca.

Cacao

We currently source our cacao nibs, cacao butter and cacao powders from organic fairly traded farms across South and Central America.

Our cacao is sourced from smallholder organic farms in South and Central America growing the finest Criollo beans. Criollo is the preferred bean of chocolate connoisseurs and has a delicate yet complex taste and unmatched texture and smoothness.Safety and quality is a top priority for us. Our cacao range is fairly traded and certified organic with no toxic chemicals, pesticides or GMOs used in cultivation or processing. Unlike cocoa powders that are often heated to more than 150 degrees and chemically extracted (dutch processed), our cacao powder is minimally processed with care at low temperatures for a superior richer taste and higher nutritional benefits. As an additional step for product purity and safety, we also ensure all our cacao products are tested for safe low levels of heavy metals including cadmium. Cadmium is a naturally occurring mineral present in the soils around the world and it can be absorbed by plants grown in that soil. Many foods contain these trace levels of cadmium including dairy, meats, grains, fruits and vegetables, canned foods, wine, nuts and seeds. Our cacao powder products are regularly tested for their cadmium levels and are within the recommended safe levels for Australia.

Our Cacao Powders pass the Australian regulation for permissable limits of cadmium in Australia. For Cacao Beans, nibs and paste - these contain cacao butter, and cacao butter does not contain cadmium. Cacao Paste, Nibs and Beans have a roughly 50:50 ratio of naturally occurring cacao powder and cacao butter so the overall cadmium content is under the regulation. We are confident our pastes are below regulation and well within acceptable safety standards, whilst being the best quality available.

Commonly called sweet nibs, Cacao Crunch is a bitter sweet alternative to the bitterness of a straight nib and yet healthier than your standard chocolate chip that usually contains refined white sugar and fillers such as soy lecithin. With a coating of unrefined panela sugar, cacao crunch is 70% cacao and 30% unrefined sugar. to produce a nutritional crunchy treat.

Cacao Butter is a very stable product with a long shelf life. When the butter is melted, small amounts of humidity or aeration variations can occasionally lead to a white-ish appearance on the butter. This is a completely natural occurrence and does not affect the taste or quality of the cacao butter. We never use high heat or solvents to extract this edible fat from the cacao bean and we do not bleach or deodorise our cacao butter.

Cacao Gold is a luxuriously smooth cacao powder with a higher natural cacao butter content and a deeper colour, aroma and flavour. Both are premium quality, rich unsweetened cacao powders that are also highly nutritious, delicious, certified organic, fairly traded and suitable for adding to cold and warm drinks, baking, snacks, desserts and any chocolatey creation.

Our Cacao Gold Paste is in the format of irregular chunks for chopping, shaving and grating to make delicious hot drinks, desserts and more. Our Cacao Paste Buttons come in a convenient button format for easy measuring and melting. The buttons are raw whereas the Cacao Gold Paste chunks are lightly roasted for a more mellow flavour profile as was traditionally done in ceremony. Both are premium quality certified organic single origin Peruvian Criollo cacao for an elevated cacao experience.

Our cacao butters come in two formats - convenient disk shaped buttons (cacao butter buttons in the illustrated pack) and irregular chunks for chopping, shaving and grating. (Cacao Gold Butter in the black and gold pack). Both are premium quality raw cacao butter cold pressed from certified organic cacao beans, ethically sourced and fairly traded.

Cacao beans are fermented to develop their full cacao flavour, then dried, cleaned and cracked to remove the brittle shell or husk. Left behind are the raw nibs – pure cacao pieces of delicious crunchy goodness. You can buy our Cacao Nibs raw or as Cacao Crunch or Lucuma Cacao Nibs.

Seaweeds

Iodine is an element easily washed out of agricultural soils.  This means many of the foods we eat contain very little iodine. Over time, iodine has accumulated in the world’s oceans in trace amounts however most seaweed species have evolved the capacity to bioaccumulate iodine from seawater to an extraordinary degree. It is not fully understood as to why seaweeds accumulate iodine to such high levels but it may be for microbial defence or for use as an antioxidant. Seaweed iodine content varies between species and even within species due to genetic and environmental and seasonality factors.

Our raw organic seaweeds are currently sourced from the pristine waters of the north Atlantic (Dulse Leaf and Flakes and Wakame Flakes) or Tasmania (Wakame Leaf). They are hand harvested from the wild, gently air dried at low temperatures and ground into flakes.

The white powder you can occasionally see on the leaves of dulse or wakame is not mould but naturally occurring sea salt precipitate and dried glutamine left behind after drying, which adds to the tastiness of this delicious sea vegetable. Due to their wild origins and minimal processing seaweeds are also subject to dry sea organisms left behind on the leaves, which can also be left or gently brushed off. This naturally occurring sea salt also adds depth of flavour to this wild sea vegetable and may act as a natural preservative. Dried seaweed is a very stable food with a long shelf life.

Shipping & Returns

Orders are processed and dispatched from Sydney within 2 - 4 business days of being received, and arrive approximately 2 - 10 working days from dispatch, depending on your address within Australia. From time to time we may experience unforeseen delays beyond our control and we appreciate your patience.

Shipping is a flat rate of $10 within Australia or free for orders under $60.

Orders are processed and dispatched from Sydney between 2 - 4 business days of being received, and arrive approximately 2 - 10 working days from dispatch depending on your address within Australia.

Please anticipate delays during sale periods or from time to time depending on external circumstances beyond our control.

We do not offer refunds for change of mind however we are happy to send you a replacement product if your products arrive damaged or do not match your order. Please take a photo and contact us within 2 weeks of receiving your goods.

Please supply:
Your name
Your address
Your email and phone number
Your order number
The batch number and expiry date (located on a sticker on the back of the pack)
Details of the issue

If we do for any reason require return of the faulty or damaged product we will reimburse you for the cost of postage.

We don’t currently ship internationally.

General

Superfoods are plant based foods intended to nourish and support your body and mind in your wellness journey, not to cure any specific ailment or disease. Health and wellbeing requires a holistic approach with many factors involved and we always recommend you consume our products in conjunction with a healthy diet and a variety of foods. Please consult your health care practitioner if you are seeking remedies for specific ailments.

The Australian government classes our superfoods as foods (not herbs or drugs) safe for general consumption. There is a nutritional panel on the label and the website for your reference. Please consult with your qualified health care practitioner for more information or if you have any concerns adding our superfoods to your diet during pregnancy or breastfeeding.