Webinar preview: Prova adapts to cocoa market needs while keeping focus on sustainability

05 Sep 2024 --- Amid surging cocoa prices and climate change, French flavor player Prova is exploring new ways to extend its offerings in cocoa flavors and extracts, allowing room for recipe reformulation and new solutions.

Food Ingredients First speaks with company experts Marie Le Beller, senior product manager and Yonathan Elbaz, sales director of EMEA North ahead of the company’s September 10 webinar. 

“Strong from our 30+ years of expertise in cocoa extraction and formulation, we are looking for new ways to extend our range and innovate, as well as monitor market trends,” says Le Beller.

Application specific 

Commenting on the growth in applications, Elbaz observes that traditional applications include baked goods (biscuits and muffins, for example), dairy (flavored milks and ice creams, including plant-based) and fat fillings. 

“We see more and more ‘cocoa-free’ chocolate-flavored products, where cocoa is replaced by various ingredients and a chocolate flavor is used instead.”

“Developing our own cocoa extracts and being able to adapt them allow us to have application-specific extracts, and natural cocoa flavors, with an authentic taste and an adapted solubility.”

Expanding on cocoa flavors working in harmony with other sweet flavors, Le Beller shares that “this is definitely something that we are exploring, there are numerous wonderful pairings with cocoa, most of them being sweet brown notes.”

“To start with the most ancestral one: vanilla. Vanilla and cocoa come indeed from the same region in Mexico and were used in ancient beverages. Since then, they have often been paired together as vanilla uplifts the chocolate taste,” she notes. 

Cocoa crisis

The cocoa industry is facing a number of environmental and social challenges as demand grows. 

In the company’s webinar, experts Elbaz and Le Beller will share their knowledge on cocoa extraction and the functional solutions brought by cocoa extracts and flavors.In the company’s upcoming webinar, “Everything you should know about cocoa extracts & flavors: PROVA shares its expertise,” Elbaz and Le Beller will provide more detailed information on cocoa extracts and flavors and their functionalities. They will also discuss the current cocoa crisis and how to navigate it to maintain a cocoa taste. 

With cocoa prices soaring, Prova also offers flavorings that can substitute cocoa powder and reduce its use by up to 30% to meet the changing needs of the food industry. 

Sustainability is crucial 

With all the challenges facing the cocoa industry, Prova is committed to sourcing all of its cocoa sustainably by 2030. The company has already taken concrete steps in that direction in 2024 by increasing the share of its sustainable cocoa purchases up to 25%.

President of Prova Muriel Acat remarks: “Switching over to sustainable cocoa was an obvious decision for Prova. Choosing sustainability means respecting and protecting the environment, improving the living conditions of producers and their families and putting an end to child labor. I believe that sustainable cocoa should be the benchmark in the future.”

“This commitment will help us significantly reduce our CO2 emissions since cocoa represents around 30% of our carbon emissions,” she comments.

To learn more about cocoa flavors and extracts, you can register for Prova’s webinar here. 

By Elizabeth Green