FAQ'S

Basically, carbohydrates and sugars are the same thing. Carbohydrates are sugars; and every carbohydrate we eat eventually breaks down into sugar. Sugar is known by many different names. Carbohydrates are in most of the food we eat, this includes ALL fruit, vegetables, natural sweeteners (sugar/honey/maple syrup etc), nuts, seeds, grains (rice, quinoa, breads, pasta), legumes, and some dairy (mostly milk). However, there are little to no carbohydrates in meat, eggs and most dairy. When carbohydrates are digested in the small intestine they are then broken down into simple sugars like glucose and fructose. These are then absorbed into the bloodstream and the glucose is used for energy, while the non-glucose simple sugars like fructose have to be further metabolised in the liver before they can be used by the body. The sugars that are not used for energy are converted to fat. Glucose, the most natural of all sugars, is vital to life. But while our bodies need glucose to survive, we don’t need to consume it. For most of us, our body is able to make glucose from both carbohydrate and non-carbohydrate sources in our food in order to maintain blood sugar levels. Glucose is used as energy by most of the cells in our body and, as mentioned above, any excess is stored as fat. Fructose (fruit sugar), on the other hand is not vital for survival and just like alcohol, fructose is metabolised by our liver. It’s believed that approximately one third of our population has Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD), with the majority undiagnosed. This could partly be attributed to our increased consumption of fructose. Our livers are working harder than ever to metabolise the excess fructose we now consume and what isn’t used is stored by our liver. NAFLD is often seen with other co-morbidities, such as type 2 diabetes, insulin resistance, hypertension, and hypertriglyceridemia to name a few. As all of Coca Loca’s products are sugar free, they are perfect for those with pre/T2 diabetes, insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome, non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, and those following a LC/keto or sugar-free diet. Check out the links below if you want to know more about the Low-Carb and/or Sugar-Free lifestyle? Low Carb Food List - https://www.ketogenic-diet-resource.com/low-carb-food-list.html Low-Carb Down Under - https://lowcarbdownunder.com.au/resources/ A low-carb diet for beginners - https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb https://www.dietdoctor.com/fructose-fatty-liver-sugar-toxin Dr David Unwin Diet Doctor podcast with Dr David Unwin - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QizJhk4DaUY Check out his Infographics that put in to perspective the amount of teaspoon sugar are in the food we eat. Dr Robert Lustig Diet Doctor podcast with Dr Lustig https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JY13yR0Dmhc Sugar: The Bitter Truth - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBnniua6-oMhttps://www.dietdoctor.com/professor-lustig-insulin-drives-behaviours-seen-obesity Dr James Muecke https://lowcarbdownunder.com.au/news/dr-james-muecke-type-2-diabet/ Burden of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in Australia

All of Coca Loca’s products are ‘sugar-free’. We use two sugar-alternatives ( Erythritol & , both have zero carbs or calories and unlike other sugar-replacements, they do not raise blood sugar levels. Erythritol is a sugar alcohol that is produced in a lab by a fermentation process using cornstarch. It looks and tastes very much like sugar, yet has zero carbs or calories and is only about 70% as sweet (& around 30x more to purchase!). Sugar alcohols occur naturally in small amounts in foods like berries, seaweed, pineapples, olives, asparagus and sweet potatoes. They are a good alternative for people with diabetes and those following a LC/keto diet. It is known to have a cooling, almost a ‘minty’ taste and like other sugar alternatives (including sugar alcohols) it can cause side effects like gas, bloating, or even have a laxative affect when eaten in excess. Monk fruit (lo han guo) is a small sub-tropical melon that has been cultivated in the remote mountains of southern China for centuries. It is up to 250x sweeter than table sugar (& about 700x the cost!) and it appears to have no known side effects. Why do you use erythritol and not xylitol? Like erythritol, xylitol is a sugar-alcohol, but it is not completely calorie or carb free and it’s about 50% lower in calories than regular table sugar, it also seems to be tolerated better by the gut (less chance of stomach pain and diarrhoea). Xylitol is also toxic to dogs and as we make a number of snack foods that can be eaten on the run, we chose not to use it. However, they do behave differently in some baking/cooking and you may find xylitol is the better alternative. When making ice-cream, erythirol makes it freeze harder. Read More here: https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/keto/sweeteners Xylitol vs. Erythritol: Which Is the Healthier Sugar Substitute? - https://www.healthline.com/health/food-nutrition/xylitol-vs-erythritol#So,-which-one-is-healthier?

All of our baked products contain seeds and/or tree nuts, and there is no added gluten, grain, lupins, soy and dairy* and egg* (* this may change in the future). We are working towards our products being fully gluten/allergen free. While all the ingredients we use are naturally free of gluten, and other allergens, there is a possibility there is a possibilitly it may be present. This is due to farming practices and the processing procedures of some suppliers resulting in cross-contamination. This may include the occasional nut shells that may be found. We have conducted in-house self-testing on products that could potentially contain gluten, and our tests have consistently shown non-detectable levels of gluten. Nevertheless, while we have taken thorough measures, we cannot provide an absolute assurance of gluten absence, as there remains a slight possibility that gluten could have evaded detection during the sample collection process. Ingredients with a possibility of gluten/other allergen present, due to farmer/supplier practices. - Nuts used by Coca Loca - walnuts, pecans, almonds and macadamias, hazelnuts & sandalwood - 100% Australian grown and gluten free. - Seeds used by Coca Loca - sunflower, pumpkin, sesame seeds, chia, flax, hemp, sesame - 100% Australian grown. - Spices used by Coca Loca - coriander, cumin, ginger, cayenne, paprika, cinnamon, allspice, cloves, You'll find the actual product ingredients of our products in the Shop page - just click on the product you are interested. If you still have questions, please feel free to contact us

100% of our nuts and seeds are grown in Australia. We also roast Australian grown coffee. The few imported ingredients we do use (coffee, cacao, vanilla, coconut, extracts and spices), are mostly organic and from the SE Asian & Pacific regions (Sri Lanka, India, Indonesia, PNG, Solomon Islands, etc). Having lived and travelled throughout SE Asia for a number of years, it’s important to us to support our neighbouring countries and to also have less travel miles on our products (and a smaller environmental footprint) in doing so.

MTC oil is used because it is mostly tasteless and is produced without the use of hexane/solvents or hydrogenation, unlike many seed/vegetable oils. MCT oil is a supplement made from a type of fat called medium-chain triglycerides. It is a fractionated oil, the fractionation process separates the MCT from the original oil and concentrates it. The MCT oil we use is extracted from coconut oil, but can also be found in many other foods, such as palm oil and dairy products. MCT oil has been dubbed a super fuel since your body absorbs MCTs more rapidly than long-chain triglycerides (LCTs). Due to their shorter length, MCTs are easily digested and not stored by our body and is believed to have many health benefits, such as; it may help with weight loss, improves digestion and helps suppress hunger, improves brain function and focus, good for gut-health and helps with inflamation What’s the Difference Between MCT Oil and Coconut Oil? - https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/mct-oil-vs-coconut-oil 'Vegetable Oils: The Unknown Story' - Why Butter, Meat and Cheese Belong in a Healthy Diet Featuring Nina Teicholz, Author, The Big Fat Surprise:

The cellophane used on our crackers and cookies are home compostble, the card around them recyclable. The bags used for our coffee, granola, muesli, nuts, DIY mixes and chocolate can be placed in Red-Cylce bins.

Coca Loca chocolate is made in very small batches using a process known as Bean-To-Bar (B2B). This process involves making chocolate from ‘scratch’ – from roasting the beans right through to moulding the Bar. The ingredients we use are all natural and the cacao beans are ethically sourced that are predominantly from the Asian Pacific region. Our suppliers buy directly from the farmers (many of whom they have developed friendships with), ensuring they are being paid above market value for their beans enabling them to grow their own businesses and to support their families and communities. After the beans are roasted, they are cracked and winnowed (where the husk is separated from the nibs). The nibs are then refined/ground (with a sweetener) down to a smooth paste, this can take days before the chocolate is ready to be tempered and moulded into bars. As a general rule, there are a few ways you can identify an artisan B2B chocolate bar. Most B2B craft chocolates use single origin cacao beans (from one farm/estate, region etc). B2B chocolates generally have minimal ingredients (cacao beans/butter and sugar), but some have inclusions (oils/fruit/nuts), but the main ingredient is nearly always cacao and will most likely list ‘cacao’, ‘cocoa’, or ‘cocoa beans’ as the main ingredient. However, many supermarket chocolates may only have a cocoa content of around 30%, which means the other 70% is made up of other ingredients like sugar, cocoa substitutes, milk, vegetables oils, emulsifiers, preservatives etc. If the ingredients list ‘cocoa mass/liquor’ or even just ‘dark/milk chocolate’ as an ingredient, the manufacturer may have purchased the chocolate from a chocolate maker and then added the other ingredients to make their bars. So next time you are at you’re visiting a local market and see a B2B chocolate stall, go and try their hand-made chocolate that they have spent many hours crafting. Check out the following reel showing the Coca Loca chocolate getting made :) https://www.instagram.com/p/CQclNChjMAa/

Have you ever considered where your chocolate comes from? Cacao originated from South America and grows very slowly in hot and humid conditions. It is generally grown approximately 10 degrees above and below the Equator, its even grown in Australia! Now days, approximately 70% of the worlds chocolate is made from cacao that has been grown in West Africa. Where “child laborers" as young as 5 years old are often working in conditions that are "deemed hazardous and, in some instances, tantamount to enslavement”. Simran Sethi, journalist and host of the excellent podcast - The Slow Melt and has recently published a piece on child labour in the chocolate industry - “Can U.S. chocolate companies be liable for child-labour abuses in the global cocoa supply chain?’, it is well worth the read. https://thecounter.org/supreme-court-chocolate-child-trafficking-nestle-cargill-cocoa/ I have learned so much since becoming a B2B chocolate maker, especially about the people who grow it (some of the poorest people in the world) and how B2B chocolate makers are helping improve the quality of theirs, their families and their communities lives. Firstly this is done through buying from ethical cacao growers. This not only means they are not using child/slave labour, but that they are not destroying precious rainforests to plant more trees. They are also paying higher farm gate prices, which in turn helps farmers provide employment in their communities, they are supporting women growers and providing education and training to help with improved farming practices, which in turn leads to better quality cacao. Besides Coca Loca – you’ll find a number of WA B2B chocolate makers in at many of the farmers markets etc so check them out and buy local. If you do want to know more about the chocolate you eat - check out some of the links below. How chocolate can improve health - Five ways chocolate may be healthier than you think.https://www.yourlifechoices.com.au/health/wellbeing/how-chocolate-can-improve-health? A Brief History Of Cacao: Where Does Chocolate Come From And How Is It Made? https://www.somatechnology.com/blog/wednesday-wisdom/a-brief-history-of-cacao-where-does-chocolate-come-from-and-how-is-it-made/ A History of Chocolate Consumption Around The World - https://perfectdailygrind.com/2017/10/history-chocolate-consumption-around-world/ The Difference Between Cocoa and Cacao - https://www.thespruceeats.com/difference-between-cocoa-and-cacao-3376438 https://www.worldcocoafoundation.org/blog/history-of-cocoa/ The Dark Side Of Chocolate - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Vfbv6hNeng First taste of chocolate in Ivory Coast - https://edition.cnn.com/2014/02/27/business/freedom-cocoa-nomics-cocolate-bar/index.html Cocoa’s child laborers - https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2019/business/hershey-nestle-mars-chocolate-child-labor-west-africa/

We are now selling our most popular items (excluding chocolate) on our on-line shop You'll also find our products on the shelves at The Micro Collective in Kalamunda, WA, recharge_coffee, Belmont and when possible, we also attend the Perth Hills Artisan Markets (PHAM) thoughout the year. Follow on our Instagram and Facebook for market updates. For the best way to see where we are and what we are up to, follow Coca Loca on our social pages - cocalocafood or subscribe for our updates on the contact page :)

While we try to get orders out within 1-2 days, when stocks are low, we need to bake and you may need to allow 3-5 days before your order is ready for dispatch/delivery/collection. Orders are not shipped on weekends or public holidays. We are based in Perth, WA and you may find most delivery methods may take longer than expected and this is beyond our control. If you are interstate or in remote areas, it may take longer than expected to receive your order. On the occasion there may be order processing delays that are outside of our control, if this is the case we will be in contact. Free home delivery for orders over $45 and within an 10km radius of the Kalamunda CBD. Order pick-up is available. Delivery in Australia only with Australia Post: Orders under 500g and under $125 (excluding delivery fee) Standard eParcel - $12.00 Orders 500g - 1kg and under $125 (excluding delivery fee) Standard eParcel - $15.00 Orders 1kg - 3kg and under $125 (excluding delivery fee) Standard eParcel - $18.00 All orders up to to 3kgs and over $125 Standard eParcel - free Standard Domestic Delivery Time Frames (within Australia): Australia Post will endeavour to deliver an orders within 3-10 business days from order dispatch.

Please select your products carefully. We do not give refunds if you simply change your mind or make a wrong decision. However, if the goods are incorrect, damaged, missing, or not as we described them, please contact uswithin 24 hours from receiving your parcel and advise us of the issue. You can choose between a refund, exchange or credit please retain the goods and packaging and return them to us (at your expense) for 100% refund or replacement guarantee within 30 days of receiving your original order. Shipping costs are non-refundable. If you receive a refund, the cost of return shipping will be deducted from your refund. There will be no replacements, refunds, exchanges or credits for items that state may melt in transit or if you're not home to receive your products and they are left out in the heat or stolen. Authority to Leave Coca Loca takes no responsibility for orders placed with ‘Authority to Leave’, so please ensure your delivery address is safe to do so. In the event that your order is returned to us as undeliverable, unclaimed or refused, we will contact you via phone or email to try and rectify the problem. You will be asked to provide a different shipping address if you choose. If the order was undeliverable in the first instance because of an incorrect or incomplete address provided by you to us, you may be required to pay for parcel return costs and additional shipping costs. If the order is still undeliverable and has been returned to us, we will provide you with a refund minus all shipping and return costs.