Nestlé has created a new chocolate made entirely from the cocoa fruit, using the beans and pulp as the only ingredients and not adding any refined sugar.
The company has developed a new approach, which allows it to extract the pulp and use it in chocolate.
Until now, chocolate has been made with the addition of refined sugars. This patented innovation is said to deliver a “great-tasting chocolate” using just the cocoa fruit.
The first product featuring the innovation will be a 70% dark chocolate KitKat bar, which will go on sale in Japan later this year.
Further products in other countries will follow next year, through some of Nestlé’s most popular confectionery brands.
“We’re proud to bring chocolate lovers a new chocolate made entirely from the cocoa fruit without adding refined sugar,” said Patrice Bula, head of strategic business units, marketing and sales at Nestlé.
“This is a real innovation which uses the natural sweetness of the cocoa pulp to provide a pure, novel chocolate experience.”
According to Nestlé, some of the cocoa pulp of the cocoa fruit is used in the fermentation of the cocoa beans after they are harvested, but a significant proportion is usually removed and the value is lost. Until now it has not been used as an ingredient to naturally sweeten chocolate, the company said.
Last year, Nestlé became the first company to sell a product made from ruby chocolate after introducing a ruby version of its KitKat bars in Japan and South Korea.
© FoodBev Media Ltd 2024
