The whole world is facing the cocoa crisis. There has been increase in cocoa prices from 100-200% in many cases which has affected the food industry drastically. There are many reasons behind this price hike, major ones are crop shortages and low liquidity on commodity market. On the other hand, African countries such as Ghana and Ivory coast which contributes maximum of cocoa beans suffered from bad harvest due to El Niño, black pod disease, and ageing cocoa trees, leading to utter shortage of cocoa beans.
But industry can’t stop working due to the crisis. There is a requirement of an alternate to beat this challenge and hence, there are many start-ups who has already come up with the solutions. Apart from that, there were many researches going on for the cocoa alternative, anticipating the cocoa shortage in future.
So if you are interested to know what are the cocoa alternatives and how it works, this article is for you.
First, we'll see the ingredients that are generally used for the manufacturing of cocoa alternatives.
Carob Powder:
Carob powder is the most common cocoa alternative explored long ago. Carob belongs to the Fabaceae Family, native to the Mediterranean region and the Middle East. Carob pods contain 2 components: pulp (90%) and seeds (10%). A study conducted by Youssef et al. (2009) explored the utilization of carob pods as a cocoa alternative. Carob seeds were separated from the pods and roasted at different temperatures (150, 160, and 170⁰C) for 30 and 40 minutes. The most preferred condition was 160⁰C for 30 minutes, where sensory scores in hot drinks were similar to hot chocolate. In addition to sensory scores, carob powder provides enhanced nutritional value in terms of high dietary fiber, lower fat, and lower caffeine content.
Oats and Sunflower Seeds:
Oats and sunflower seeds are common ingredients available worldwide, but no one has thought they can be used as a cocoa alternative. Thanks to Planet A Foods, a Germany-based start-up, which utilizes proprietary technology to ferment plant-based ingredients and naturally recreates the desired flavors and fats. They have launched their product ChoViva which is the world’s first 100% cocoa-free chocolate. Their products utilize local ingredients such as oats, sunflower seeds, sugars, and plant-based fats. The oats and sunflower seeds are fermented in a similar way to brewing, followed by roasting and grinding into a concentrate which has an aroma similar to cocoa. The concentrate is then mixed with other ingredients (milk solids/oat flour) and plant-based fat, and then conched to create the smooth-textured chocolate, ChoViva. The whole process contributes to a 90% less carbon footprint.
Faba Beans:
Faba beans, also known as vicia beans, are a common ingredient in European, Asian, and American cuisines. However, Nukoko, a UK-based start-up, explored faba beans for the manufacturing of cocoa-free chocolate. The reason behind choosing faba beans is the presence of a protein called Vicilin. Vicilin is a globular storage protein that is broken down into amino acids by the action of endoproteases and carboxypeptidases during the fermentation process. These amino acids react with reducing sugars during roasting and develop new flavor compounds such as aldehydes, ketones, esters, pyrazines, etc. The extent of vicilin breakdown and the extent of reaction with sugars create different compounds and, consequently, affect the taste of the chocolate. Similarly, since faba beans also contain vicilin, they also have the ability to produce chocolaty flavors in the presence of appropriate enzymes, pH, and temperature conditions.
Carob and Barley:
As we have already seen, carob can be utilized to produce a cocoa alternative but Win-win, a UK-based company, manufactures their alternative chocolate with a combination of carob and barley. The ingredients are fermented, followed by roasting and grinding. Malted barley, when combined with carob during processing, provides a brown color with a caramel and smoky profile, which more closely resembles real chocolate. The main highlight of their process is that it utilizes the existing chocolate manufacturing process, making it easy to be adopted and scaled up by chocolate manufacturers and move in the direction of sustainability.
Apart from ingredients, companies have come forward with novel technologies to produce cocoa alternatives. Some of them are:
Reverse Engineering:
Voyage Foods is a US-based start-up that is working on many innovative products such as spreads without hazelnuts, peanut butter without peanuts, chocolate without cocoa, and coffee without beans. For cocoa-free chocolate making, they utilize upcycled grape seeds from wine production, vegetable oil, sugar, sunflower protein flour, natural flavors, lecithin (sunflower-based), and salt. The uniqueness in their production technology is reverse engineering. Voyage Foods studies the basic molecular structure of food, identifies the molecules responsible for the aroma, and then looks for other sources from which those molecules can be derived. These molecules are then combined with other ingredients to make the final product. In this way, they are managing to recreate the same flavor profile of the product with alternative ingredients.
Cell Culture:
Cell culture is a promising technology which is used in the creation of meat analogues, but Celleste Bio, an Israel-based start-up, has utilized this technology for the manufacturing of cocoa butter and other ingredients. They extract the cells from 1-2 cocoa beans and grow them in a bioreactor with controlled conditions, water, and nutrients. Since it’s a continuous process, it doesn’t require multiple cell extractions, hence eliminating the usage of cocoa pods in bulk. According to the organization's claims, a single cocoa pod has the ability to generate 1 ton of cocoa butter under controlled conditions. Moreover, by using AI, they are able to customize the profile of cocoa by altering the conditions as per consumers' requirements.
So these are just a few innovations in the field of cocoa alternatives. There are many researches going on and various patents filed for alternate chocolate across the globe. If you want to know more in this space, do sign up and let us know to bring part 2 of this section.
Happy Reading!!
References:
UTILIZATION OF CAROB PODS IN THE PRODUCTION OF ALTERNATIVE TO COCOA POWDER [12] Youssef1 , S.M.; G.A. Abd EL-Malak1 and M.E. Moussa1 1- Crops Horticultural Processing Research Department, Food Technology Research Institute, Agricultural Research Center, Giza, Egypt
https://www.fooddive.com/news/voyage-foods-molecular-chocolate-coffee-peanut-butter/605950/
Origin of the chocolate specific flavour notes Essential precursors are generated by proteolysis of a cocoa storage protein. November 2009, Agro Food Industry Hi Tech 20(6):26-28, November 2009, 20(6):26-28
https://www.foodnavigator.com/Article/2024/05/22/cocoa-innovation-for-chocolate-alternatives
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