Place to buy massive amounts of cocoa

[jsaimd]

I need to get bulk cocoa for a cooking project. Any place on the peninsula people know of to get it (Costco doesn't have it). Quality is *gasp* less important as this is for a cooking project for kids, and I think only my kids can tell the difference between Hershey's and Valrhona.

[jsaimd]

Thanks all. I am picky about my own cocoa powder and actually prefer the stronger flavors of natural cocoa, but for this, just a cooking project with kids, cheap and gluten free were my only criteria!

For those looking in the future - Smart and Final no longer carries it, except special order (takes a few weeks), and Whole foods in Palo Alto does not hae it in bulk. The new store in Mountain View may but witht he grand opening, I couldn't talk to anyone. But in Palo Alto, I could order a case of Ghiradelli (not the best, but cheap), for a little over $5 a pnd. Takes over night to get a case of anyhing a whole foods and you get a 10% discount.

[HungryMojo]

I don't remember the price, but I know some Whole Foods locations (not all of them, unfortunately) have regular cocoa powder (not Dutch process) in their bulk section. I bought some at their San Francisco (California St) location about a year ago, but their Mill Valley and San Rafael locations did not have it. It might be worth checking your local Whole Foods store.

I'm sorry I don't remember the price, but some of the stuff in their bulk food section is suprisingly cheap (I buy loads of non-organic rolled oats). Other stuff is not so cheap.

[Nancy Berry]

Have you tried Smart & Final? They often carry bulk quantities of items such as cocoa.

Smart & Final Store Locations:

http://www.smartandfinal.com/location...

[rabaja]

Pacific Gourmet has a variety of kinds. You can place a will call order and buy direct. They're in San Francisco, in China Basin area, I think. #641 8400.

[MollyGee]

Not on the penninsula, but Berkeley Bowl has cocoa powder in the bins for (checking my bag of cocoa powder) $3.55/lb. Sounds pretty cheap to me and it's good stuff, too.

[HungryMojo]

Last time I checked (about a year ago), Berkeley Bowl's bulk cocoa powder was "Dutch process" cocoa, not "regular" cocoa powder. There's a big difference. I'm pretty sure jsaimd was looking for regular cocoa, since Hershey's was mentioned. The regular stuff is usually the preferred type for baking.

When I bought Berkeley Bowl's cocoa powder, it was labeled "Dutch process" on the bulk bin, but I don't remember if it was correctly labeled on the sticker. If your cocoa powder is "brick red" in color, it's regular cocoa. If it's very dark brown, it's Dutch process cocoa.

Here's where I learned the difference between regular cocoa powder and Dutch process:

Cook's Thesaurus: http://www.foodsubs.com/Chocvan.html#cocoa powder

Good Eats (Art of Darkness II): http://www.goodeatsfanpage.com/Season...

[MollyGee]

It probably is dutch process as it's brown rather than brick red.

[laur76]

www.bulkfoods.com