Puratos poised to launch “world’s first” chocolate with cultured cocoa for professionals

Highly concentrated in West African countries, such as Côte d’Ivoire and Ghana, cocoa production is particularly vulnerable to climate change, crop diseases, and extreme weather. It’s been these markers that have driven up cocoa prices in recent years, leading to an ongoing cocoa crisis and a wave of alternative innovation, with major chocolate brands using less cocoa in formulations.

But now, an expert in chocolate, bakery, and patisserie ingredients, Puratos, has joined forces with California Cultured to launch the “world’s first” chocolate product for professionals containing cultured cocoa. This is a crucial move away from traditional cocoa production, shifting toward an alternative production method that offers manufacturers a potential hedge against supply disruptions. 

Mitigating volatility in cocoa 

The two companies plan to commercialize a chocolate product for professional chefs, chocolatiers, large food manufacturers, and food brands. It promises to deliver on taste, quality, consistency, and performance. 

A climate-independent complement, such as cultured cocoa, could help stabilize supply and reduce exposure to yield and price volatility. A myriad of weather conditions, climate change-related problems, and supply chain difficulties drove up the price of cocoa in 2024 and 2025, leading to record highs. Erratic rainfall, drought, and diseases such as Cocoa Swollen Shoot Virus have also been impacting cocoa yields. 

The global impact of the cocoa crisis has also hit some of the most prominent players in chocolate.

Last month, Barry Callebaut’s first-quarter results revealed the chocolate industry is still finding its footing, despite an ease in prices in January, while Hershey’s net income plunged 59.9% to US$320 million in the fourth quarter, extending a damaging year for the chocolate maker as soaring cocoa and tariff costs overwhelmed successive price increases.

Cell-based cocoa partnership 

Puratos hails the cultivated cocoa project as a significant milestone for the company. The product will be fully commercially available to Puratos customers in the US toward the end of 2026, marking a significant milestone for innovation in the chocolate industry.

Notably, the company aims to help shape the future of chocolate in a way that complements traditional cocoa farming. Through its foodtech venture arm, Sparkalis, Puratos says it is investing in early cultured cocoa technology to develop first-of-its-kind products. 

This collaboration is significant because it moves cultured cocoa from a “scientific proof” into a “dependable commercial ingredient” that manufacturers can actually plan around.

Chocolate makers need an ingredient that behaves and tastes like cocoa. Leveraging new technologies could help the chocolate industry stay stable and survive long-term.

Exploring emerging technologies

Chocolate makers need an ingredient that behaves and tastes like cocoa. Leveraging new technologies could help the chocolate industry stay stable and survive long-term, even as climate change makes growing cocoa more difficult — and it would do this without harming the current cocoa-growing environments.

Puratos has set performance benchmarks to ensure cultured cocoa behaves like traditional cocoa in bakery, patisserie, and confectionery applications.

Speaking to Food Ingredients First, Youri Dumont, business unit director for Chocolate at Puratos, explains how the Belgian-born global company utilizes its decades of expertise in chocolate to apply rigorous sensory analysis and well-established evaluation methodologies specifically designed for chocolate flavor profiling. 

“Cultured cocoa naturally expresses a somewhat more fruity flavor profile. Our role is to understand it precisely and work with it deliberately. Through our trained sensory panels, descriptive analysis frameworks, and application testing in real bakery, patisserie, sweet goods, and chocolate environments, we assess aroma complexity, flavor balance, intensity, persistence, and overall consumer perception,” he tells us.

“Beyond taste, we benchmark functionality just as strictly, as professionals need ingredients that behave predictably in production, and consistency is key.”

Puratos evaluates melting behavior, viscosity, texture, workability, stability, and performance during baking, molding, enrobing, and filling.

“Our standard is clear: it must taste like chocolate, perform like chocolate, and meet the craftsmanship expectations associated with Belgian chocolate expertise. That combination of sensory science and application know-how is what allows us to translate emerging technology into a professional-grade ingredient,” Dumont says.

At this stage, Puratos expects volumes to largely depend on customer demand and the pace of market adoption. As this is a new technology and innovation, the company expects interest to build progressively as professionals test, evaluate, and integrate it into their applications. 

“Our approach for the first year of US commercialization is therefore demand-driven. We are preparing to supply professional customers at a scale that allows them to work with the ingredient confidently, while ensuring quality, consistency, and regulatory compliance are fully secured.” 

“As adoption grows, production capacity can scale accordingly. But given the novelty of cultured cocoa, it would be premature to speculate on specific volumes today. Our focus is not on volume targets in year one. It is on delivering a reliable, high-quality product that meets professional standards and builds long-term confidence in the category.” 

Dumont stresses that the future of the chocolate industry depends on stakeholders’ ability to innovate responsibly, and that exploring new approaches, such as cultured cocoa, allows Puratos to build on that foundation and continue shaping a more resilient future for chocolate.

Regulatory approvals 

Regulatory approvals are required in the US before launch.

“Our objective is to ensure that any product developed with cultured cocoa fully complies with all applicable regulations and can be legally recognized as chocolate in the markets where it is sold,” Dumont continues.

“Labeling requirements are still under review, and as with any new food innovation, we will work closely with regulatory bodies to provide transparency and clarity, ensuring that customers and consumers receive accurate information in line with any applicable laws and regulations.” 

Working closely with cocoa farmers

Addressing any potential skepticism, Dumont explains how Puratos understands that any new technology in the cocoa space can raise questions, particularly among growers and long-standing industry partners.

“That is why dialogue and transparency are essential. We have built direct, close relationships with cocoa farmers through Cacao-Trace, working with more than 20,000 farmers to date, and with the ambition to grow that network to 50,000 by 2030.”

“Our Chocolate Bonus and Quality Premium has also been in place since the inception of Cacao-Trace, and truly sustainable cocoa sourcing can only be achieved through strong, long-term partnerships at origin. Exploring cultured cocoa does not alter that. It is an innovation we are assessing responsibly, in line with our DNA as a food technology leader.” 

“But our foundation and our future remain deeply connected to cocoa farming communities. Open conversation, scientific rigor, and continued investment in farmers will guide how we move forward. That is how we build trust and how we believe the chocolate sector can evolve responsibly.”

Moving beyond the US?

Puratos continuously explores innovation opportunities across regions, engaging with different partners and monitoring developments in other markets, but this launch is commercially focused on the US with the US-based collaboration partner, California Cultured, and the regulatory pathway and initial production set-up aligned with that market. 

“We remain open to future expansion where it makes strategic and regulatory sense, yet as with any food innovation, expansion into other regions would depend on regulatory approvals, customer demand, supply capabilities, and local market readiness,” says Dumont. 

“For now, our priority is to ensure a successful and responsible introduction in the US market first before outlining specific geographic priorities beyond the US.”