SPECIAL REPORT: Chocolate Premiumization and Customization – Beyond the Simple Tablet

With 66% of European respondents claiming to be influenced by organic labels, product launches with organic certification have seen a growth of +264% from 2010 until 2015 with a current 6% share of global confectionery launches, according to Innova Market Insights' consumer data, presented at ISM 2016.

Organic chocolate is therefore a key trend and FoodIngredientsFirst spoke to several suppliers about the rising demand for organic cocoa. Mr. Florian Bayerlein, General Manager of Herza says: “Organic cocoa beans are sourced in Middle and South America. Regular cocoa beans are mostly imported from West Africa. There is a clearly distinguishable difference in taste profile, with organic qualities being fruitier than regular beans.”

 

Bayerlein adds: “At Herza we work together with the Fairtrade Labeling Organizations International and manufacture our organic products under the supervision of the German Öko-Kontrollstelle, which is the authority that supervises organic products.”

 

Brigitte Bayart (pictured), Senior Marketing Manager, Chocolate, Cargill Cocoa & Chocolate notes: “We produce a wide range of organic chocolate all of which meets the requirements of NOP (North American standards) or BIO (European standards), and which is certified by the SKAL and ECOCERT certifying bodies.”

 

“In our production facilities organic compliance is checked on a national level by the relevant control organizations. These perform announced and unannounced inspections and audits to sample products,” continued Bayart.

 

The organic processes at Cargill start with organic certified ingredients, with strict procedures applied to minimize/avoid cross contact with non-organic ingredients during production. “For example at our plant in Mouscron we have invested in specific storage tanks and separate piping for organic products,” she says.

 

“As well as organic chocolate we also produce single origin chocolate using cocoa beans from just one country, for example Ecuador, Madagascar, Papua New Guinea and the Dominican Republic. These origin chocolates can be used to create distinct premium flavor profiles to please the most demanding palates or reassure consumers about the origin of their favorite treat,” Bayart adds.

 

For Cargill, sustainable cocoa is now more than ever a trend. Bayart explains: “Chocolate products with a sustainable certification have increased six fold over the past five years. Brands and private labels are equally committed to certified labels, with the main countries being the UK, Germany and the Netherlands.”

 

Bayerlein of Herza, adds: “Sustainability is a must-have these days. Even hard-discount retail chains are requesting it, and if you cannot deliver sustainability, you cannot serve certain distribution channels.”

 

Other Emerging Chocolate Trends
There is no doubt that chocolate trends are something to keep an eye on, and these trends like many others are always evolving to keep up with the continuing global demands and needs.

 

Jeff Mundt (pictured), Senior Manager of Technology and Global Innovation for Hershey, talks about the importance of listening and responding to culinary trends and customer interests: “We have over 250 food experts who use knowledge and insights across every aspect of our business to help us delight consumers. At Hershey, we know people’s needs are changing; our consumers are increasingly committed to finding products that taste delicious and offer the highest quality ingredients.”

 

Mundt adds: “For instance, Brookside chocolate is one of our artisan brands of dark chocolate that is paired with real, exotic fruit juices and flavors. We learned that our Brookside confection consumer was also frequently purchasing snack bars. We saw an opportunity to extend the Brookside product portfolio adding new confection products like Crunchy Clusters as well as fruit and nut bars.”

 

“Brookside Bars are made with wholesome ingredients including whole roasted almonds, real fruit pieces and delicious Brookside dark chocolate that Hershey consumers love,” he states.

 

Herza see a huge rise in demand for organic chocolate qualities. “We can very much confirm that there is trend towards cleaner/clearer label and that consumers look for permissible, healthy indulgence. We see interest in exploring alternatives to regular saccharose and protein fortification is playing a role as well,” Bayerlein says. “Along these lines customers are also looking to avoid the use of lecithin,” he notes.

 

Bayart of Cargill believes that chocolate producers have adapted their offerings. “With consumers becoming increasingly aware of a healthy diet and lifestyle, the list of ingredients, particularly with chocolate, is cleaner with no additives, no preservatives and with natural flavors, and the choice of free from products is increasing. There is a lot of attention around sugar from consumers and governments,” she adds, “As a result there has been an increase in products with less sugar, no-sugar added, sweetened with stevia, or even sugar free.”

 

Bayart discusses emerging flavor trends in chocolate: “Key popular flavors remain nuts, caramel or dessert flavors. But coffee is becoming established as a top flavor, and more exotic tastes are appearing in the niche space such as unusual fruits or even vegetables.”

 

She adds: “In between indulgence and better for you, the dark, darker, darkest trends are certainly here to stay. We see it in premium but also mainstream positioning and across product categories.”

 

“The premium trend remains strong and fine flavors and single origin claims have become mainstream, with such claims, along with artisanal claims often being made on the front of packs,” Bayart notes.

 

“There is quite some interest for sweet/salty combinations,” says Bayerlein of Herza. “For example salted roasted almonds and chocolate or inclusion of fleur de sel in chocolate. Also warm, brown flavor notes such as chocolate blonde or classical French praliné are becoming especially popular.”

 

But chocolate flavor preferences vary from country to country: “For example some countries, such as the UK, prefer a sweet creamy taste, with milk chocolate based on crumb and usually pale in color. In comparison France prefers darker chocolate, with a less sweet flavor profile,” says Bayart.

 

“Cargill combines local market analysis with our own sensory expertise and works closely with customers to fit their needs,” Bayart adds.

 

Alongside this we can also support customers selling their products and developing recipes in countries with varying legislation.

 

One of the other key trends is to open up to new markets, including hotter climates, where melting is a major problem.

 

Barry Callebaut presented one of its innovations at this year’s ISM: Choc37.9. Choc37.9 is a chocolate solution that allows consumers a sweet snack on the go that won’t melt that fast in their purse or hands.

 

Herwig Bernaert, Global R&D Director at Barry Callebaut explained the concept at ISM: “Very simply said, when you eat chocolate, it has to melt in the mouth.” Choc37.9 has improved thermo-tolerance to permit a melting point of 4 degrees higher than normal chocolate and more than the human body.

 

Today’s consumers have such a busy life that they are looking for a permissible chocolaty break that lifts their day, comforts them and provides them with an instant energy delivery, this has certainly been taken into consideration.

 

Bernaert explains: “We looked at ingredients, emulsifiers, questioned whether we could optimize the fat-content in chocolate and optimize interactions between different ingredients. The company also took out patents on their processes, which dealt with spreading the fat more evenly around the particles, like sugar and milk, so that they need less fat to have the same rheology.”

 

“It’s the use of cocoa butter, how it’s spread around the particles, the shape of the particles and the application of different ingredients,” Bernaert explains as key to the success. The melting temperature of the chocolate can be 35°C, 36°C or even more extreme: 37.9°C. Not all chocolate products need the same extent of heat resistance; it depends on country, application and need. This method strikes a balance between the temperature outside and the point when chocolate melts in the mouth.

 

Bernaert adds: “When you eat chocolate, it has to have a full melting profile, so we try to balance how high we can go in temperature while still being able to consume the chocolate.”

 

In the knowledge that caramel is the second most popular flavor among consumers (after chocolate), Barry Callebaut has developed a completely new premium Belgian chocolate: Caramel Doré. which was also showcased at ISM earlier this year.

 

This new chocolate innovation offers consumers a warm and creamy caramel touch and is the only premium Belgian caramelized chocolate, can be turned into confectionery applications, ice cream and desserts to create multi-flavor and multi-texture sensations. The Caramel Doré has a creamy, golden color. The explosive caramel taste, accompanied with caramelized milky notes, a distinct biscuit flavor and a pinch of salt adds an extra layer of sensory delight.

 

“We are constantly innovating to create products that trigger the imagination of consumers,” says Bas Smit, Global and European Marketing Director of Barry Callebaut. “The Caramel Doré, with its unique flavor and texture, offers a new taste sensation, based on one of the most popular flavors in the chocolate world.”

 

The confectionery industry, particularly chocolate, has been the first sector of the food industry to widely experiment with 3D printing. In fact, more than 50% of the innovations described in journal abstracts for food printing (2004-2014) relate to chocolate 3D printing. Innovative development has included work by the major brands Hershey and Cadbury and it is clear that chocolate appears to be the space with the highest level of development right now.

 

Mundt of Hershey, maintains that understanding consumer trends is the engine that drives business. “The Hershey Cocojet 3D Chocolate printer is the most advanced in the world, capable of printing 3 dimensional objects that delight our consumers.”

 

Hershey’s deep chocolate expertise is adding value in the collaboration with 3D Systems, the leader in consumer and industrial 3D printing and manufacturing.

 

Mundt says: “3D printing allows for a high degree of personalization fulfilling a strong consumer desire. 3D printing is also unique in that you can create things with a 3D printer that cannot be made any other way; interlocking rings, for example, could not be molded, but you can print them with a 3D printer.”

 

He adds: “This capability allows us to create textures and shapes that would not be available to us with traditional methods, and these new shapes and textures can add tremendous appeal for the consumer.”

 

“In the case of our collaboration with 3D Systems, we started with the technology and set out to apply it to potential, un-met consumer needs and occasions. I would say that while this is not typical for a CPG company, it is very typical at a technology company where you think of the various commercial applications and then develop business models for each and commercialize the ones that make the most sense,” Mundt explains.

 

Bayerlein of Herza, considers it important for companies to monitor 3D developments: “We believe that this technology will find its place in product development and small scale / artisanal chocolate production, while large scale production will continue to be carried out with the well-established, cost-effective production technologies.”

 

Bayart, Cargill, suggests that the company are keen to follow developments in the world of 3D printing: “Cargill Cocoa & Chocolate is always looking at new innovations and developments in technology that can improve even further the range of products we offer our customers, but have no current plans in this area at the moment.”

 

Bayart continues: “In terms of chocolate customization, Cargill Cocoa & Chocolate stands out because of our strength in making chocolate according to customer specific needs. Cargill is particularly well equipped to do this from a structural point of view, with our R&D expertise, and state of the art manufacturing facilities.”

 

Mundt of Hershey, explains what makes 3D chocolate printing so compelling: “It gives Hershey a new capability to meet a growing consumer need for unique food experiences. Our consumers are actively seeking food that is delicious, special, fun and personal,” he adds: “There is something incredibly special about designing a piece of chocolate that has meaning to you and watching it print before your eyes.”

 

Hershey is exploring a range of commercialization options from owning the printers and selling the final product to selling the printers to stores so they can make unique and special designs for their shoppers. With emerging technology, the possibilities are endless.

 

But the 3D printing of customized chocolate products still looks many years off for the mainstream chocolate industry. For the short and medium term, expect increased product activity within the organic space, with rising new product activity around origin sourcing.