Elsewhere, Mars is trying to literally get to the root of the problem by improving the resilience of its all-important cocoa plants. The food giant is working with the USDA and UC Davis to study genome-sequencing pathogens for diseases that wreak havoc on crop yields, including black pod disease. By understanding the problem at a micro level, we hope to be able to select resilient cacao trees and bypass the sector’s supply issues entirely.
Nag points out other areas of development focused on improving the quality of new solutions. In particular, she suggests that Pascalization may be promising.
“Pascalization [also referred to as high-pressure processing—HPP] It involves applying high levels of hydrostatic pressure to the cocoa product to stabilize the cocoa particles and prevent separation of the cocoa powder,” she explains.
“This technology preserves flavor and nutrients, extends shelf life, alters texture and ensures food safety of cocoa and chocolate products without relying on heat or chemical preservatives. “This method is still under investigation, but shows promise for improving the texture of chocolate products, especially in alternative formulations.”
Despite the growing competition, Mishra is fully confident in Ford’s potential. But his team is not the first to consider this, Nestle and Lindt & Sprüngli have tentatively entered similar markets with varying degrees of success.
Nestle launched its cocoa product Incoa in 2019 and quietly pulled it out of the market in 2023 after receiving a disappointing response in some European markets. The chocolate did not use endocarp and skipped the gel-making step, but promised similar positive results for farmers. Elsewhere, Lindt & Sprüngli appears to have gained more interest following the launch of its Cocoa Pure range in 2021. Through our partnership with Koa, we continue to offer limited edition 100% cocoa bars, but using only pulp.
So, while the industry spirit appears to be open to new ideas, will the public embrace this new chocolate and will ETH Zurich’s unique chocolate-making method ever make it out of the lab?
“If I didn’t have a day job, I would probably have started my own company,” says Mishra. “But the real milestone for implementation that needs to be achieved is for chocolate companies to take the risk of creating a prototype of a product that is a real product and not something created by scientists. We scientists are generally not really good at creating culinary delights. I think that will start to change once the bigger chocolate manufacturers see this as a worthwhile path forward.”
