Terminology - Cocoa or Cacao?

 Copyright © Françoise Herrmann

Are you wondering what the differences might be between cacao, and cocoa?

According to the OED (Oxford English Dictionary), cocoa is "a variant or alteration of another lexical term". In this case, the etymon is cacao, a term borrowed from Spanish, which includes additional variants such as caccao, cacoa, cacao, cacaa, cacaw, cocao, and caco.

End of story, according to the definitive record of the English language. You might use both cacao and cocoa interchangeably, keeping your usage consistent if your writing is a bit formal.

However, the crowd begs to differ in regards the matter of "cacao vs. cocoa". Thus, the saga unfolds, and you might end up feeling variously: vindicated, baffled, indignant, amused, unsettled, a bit more confused, or plain frustrated.

Indeed, the matter of “cacao vs. cocoa” fetches 1,817,000 Google hits, of which the top-ranked tell a unified story of difference. In other words, If you are a raw foodist then the difference might actually appear quite significant. Or, at the very least, the difference may make gisted sense.  

Here are some of the crowd’s stories of the differences between the terms “cacao vs. cocao".

 “Raw cacao is made by cold-pressing un-roasted cacao beans. The process keeps the living enzymes in the cacao and removes the fat (cacao butter). Cocoa looks the same but it's not. Cocoa powder is raw cacao that's been roasted at high temperatures.” (Food Matters®)

“Some experts use “cacao” for the pods, beans and ground-up contents of the beans, reserving “cocoa” for the powder left after pressing the fat out of the ground beans.” (Healthline®)

"Despite coming from the same plant, cacao and cocoa have numerous differences. Cacao is a pure form of chocolate that comes very close to the raw and natural state in which it is harvested. […] Cocoa has been processed with high heat." (Nuts.com)

“Cacao and cocoa may sound similar, but both of them are unique when it comes to taste, nutrition, and cost. […] Cacao is the purest form of chocolate you can consume, which means it is raw and much less processed than cocoa powder or chocolate bars […] Cocoa is the term used to refer to the heated form of cacao that you probably grew up buying at the store in the form of powder […](Onegreenpalnet.com)

"Cocoa powder, commonly used in baking, is made by fermenting, drying, and roasting the cacao bean.   It's then pressed until all of the oils are separated out and the solids that remain are turned into a dry powder. […] Cacao powder is made in a very similar manner.[…]  However, when it's cacao powder being made, the beans are processed at very low temperatures. This is why cacao is often referred to as "raw," as the temperature used are so low it still be considered raw." (Spoon University)  

To complicate matters a bit more, at least for translation purposes. French uses the single term “cacao” with no variants in sight. The term “cacao” is used in reference to the tree (cacaotier), the pods roasted or not (fèves de cacao crues ou torréfiées), beverages (poudre de cacao pour chocolat chaud),  percentages in chocolate/candy bars (% de cacao) – It’s all –cacao-related or cacao-based.

The bottom line? The OED may prevent you from going crazy with possibilities. Alternatively, you might petition for revision, and/or conduct your own investigation. 

Incidentally, does the distinction “cacao vs.cocao” exist in the languages that you speak?

References
OED - cocoa
http://www.oed.com.proxy.library.nyu.edu/view/Entry/35518?redirectedFrom=cocoa#eid
OED - cacao
http://www.oed.com.proxy.library.nyu.edu/view/Entry/25797?redirectedFrom=cacao#eid
Raw Cocoa vs Cacao: What's the difference?
https://www.foodmatters.com/article/raw-cacao-vs-cocoa-whats-the-difference
Caco vs. Cocoa: What's the difference?
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/cacao-vs-cocoa
Cacao vs Cocoa: What's the difference?
https://nuts.com/healthy-eating/cacao-vs-cocoa
Cacao vs Cocoa: What you need to know
http://www.onegreenplanet.org/vegan-food/cacao-vs-cocoa-what-you-need-to-know/
Cacao vs. Cocoa: What's the difference?
https://spoonuniversity.com/lifestyle/cacao-vs-cocoa