Innovation in the chocolate sector in recent years has been dominated by one name – the Swiss-based cocoa supplier Barry Callebaut, which, over the last three years, has launched four new product innovations in the market: Ruby chocolate, a plant-based M_lk chocolate and a revolutionary 3D chocolate printing technology called Mona Lisa 3D, and now Wholefruit chocolate.
Wholefruit chocolate
The audience was told at the Chocoa event that Wholefruit was Barry Callebaut biggest innovation which they worked on for years. Bas Smit, Global VP of Marketing at the company said “Barry Callebaut doesn’t own Wholefruit chocolate… it’s initiated for everyone to use”.
Currently, most of the fruit is thrown away Smit explained, and the industry has only been interested in the beans. By utilising the whole fruit, not only is it possible to create interesting new fruity flavour profiles, but it is a much more environmentally friendly approach to farming. Smit compared the process to the German carmaker Daimler Chrysler, which failed to innovate away from Diesel to electric fast enough and is now paying the price as they fall behind electric engine technology.
Using the whole fruit means this creates a whole new category that can be adopted for ice creams, smoothies and more. Being 100% pure Cacaofruit it also contains 40% less sugar, which will make it an attractive ingredient that matches the zeitgeist of today’s consumer.
Some more information about Wholefruit is available on their website.
