Ceremonial-grade cacao is moving from niche wellness ritual to shelf-ready single-serve format. Naked Earth has launched a line of cacao ritual packets designed as a jitter-free coffee alternative, priced at $65 per six-pack of 35-gram servings and available direct-to-consumer now, with wholesale accounts open on request.

The Product

Each squeeze pack combines ethically sourced cacao with MCT coconut oil, cardamom, rose, vanilla, sea salt, and sunflower lecithin. The formula is certified organic, vegan, sugar-free, and gluten-free, and the packets can be prepared hot or iced — a flexibility that broadens potential use across café, hospitality, and foodservice settings. Founders Alyna and Elliot Rivera spent a year refining the recipe before bringing it to market.

"We loved the way ceremonial cacao made us feel, and we wanted that feeling to be part of our everyday lives without sacrificing quality or ethics," said Elliot Rivera, co-founder of Naked Earth. "There was nothing on the market like what we were looking for, so we created it ourselves."

Functional Beverage Context

The launch lands squarely in one of foodservice's most active ingredient trends. Cacao has attracted growing operator interest as consumers seek functional beverage alternatives that deliver focus and calm without caffeine dependency. A randomized, placebo-controlled trial published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology found that participants who consumed a high dose of cocoa polyphenols daily for 30 days reported significantly greater calmness and contentedness than those given a placebo — a data point that resonates with the wellness-minded café and hospitality guest.

For operators tracking the better-for-you beverage category, the single-serve format is a notable detail. Squeeze packs reduce preparation complexity and eliminate measuring, making ceremonial cacao viable outside of specialty wellness bars where it has historically been confined to labor-intensive preparation rituals.

Sourcing and Sustainability

Naked Earth sources its cacao through direct trade relationships with small farms in Central America and Africa, positioning the ingredient as beyond-fair-trade. The packaging is industrially biodegradable. The company also donates $1 from every purchase to Ana Iris and the Boruca indigenous community in Costa Rica — a cause the Rivera family connected with at a panel discussion in June 2025. For hospitality operators building sustainability narratives around their beverage programs, that provenance story adds menu-talking-point value.

Wholesale inquiries can be directed through the brand's website. As functional beverages continue to reshape the morning and afternoon dayparts, single-serve ceremonial cacao is a format worth watching for beverage-forward operators looking to differentiate their menus.

Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.