Swiss Innovation to Revamp the Industry
The chocolate industry has long been criticized for being wasteful. The fact that the farmers who cultivate and harvest the coveted cocoa beans live off of approximately $2 a day while the chocolate industry generates $9.59 billion every year has unsettled consumers. Not to mention, production of the world’s favorite snack requires just the seeds of the plant which make 200,000 metric tons of chocolate every year leaving the unused fruit pulp and husk to rot on the ground contributing to 700,000 metric tons of food waste.
But a few Swiss chocolatiers believe they are on their way to changing the chocolate industry and the plight of the farmers who make it possible. Kim Mishra and Anian Schreiber are on the frontlines of chocolate innovation and the brains behind a production process that replaces powdered sugar with a new sweetener made from the cocoa bean’s pulp and husk. If it is successful, it will build a more sustainable, healthier chocolate making process for the industry while also bringing economic stability to the tropical farming regions of the world.
Environmentally Friendly Chocolate
The timing is great. Many consumers place a high value on products that give consideration to sustainable production practices. The innovative method, which reduces the pulp and husk of the cocoa fruit down to a sweet gel, makes use of the typically discarded portions of the plant.
While it’s not the first product of its kind, the gel sweetener produced commercially could be competition for confectioners' sugar. In 2019, Nestle Japan and Barry Callebaut both launched chocolate snacks made with fruit pulp sweetener. Five years later in a post pandemic world where consumers are making more of an effort to understand how their food is produced, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the whole-fruit chocolate find its stride.
It's a tiny win in the health category because it offers an option other than refined powdered sugar. But it's a big win in the sustainability category. Discarded portions of the fruit are usually left on the ground. The rotting pulp and husk damage the soil quality.
With a huge portion of cacao trees currently disease ridden, finding ways to improve soil health is crucial. Using the whole fruit could help build sustainable farming practices and benefit both farmers and chocolate manufacturers. According to the data, any additions in production outputs are offset by the removal of such a large quantity of food waste.
A Viable Option for Cocoa Producers Who Still Want to do Business with the EU
The innovative technique is also addressing a new concern stemming from the EUs commitment to ban or fine products with connections to deforestation. For an industry already battling record high trading prices, $11,500 per metric ton, and an uncertain supply, the prospect of 4% fines is like salt on a wound. The EU is worried that rather than face fines, the chocolate industry will relocate manufacturing to South America which would not solve deforestation and leave European countries in the lurch.
Switzerland, the birthplace of chocolate, hopes their new method will deter countries from shifting chocolate operations to South America. Because the new process tackles both the actual farming obstacles faced by growers and could positively impact farm incomes the technique is attracting attention.
Economic impacts are exciting. What was once waste could make up an essential ingredient in the production of chocolate, an extra revenue source for farmers. It would also increase the supply of chocolate, which could lower the price. The chocolate industry benefits from heavily subsidized sugar production which keeps the cost of making the candy low. Right now, the “new” chocolate would be more expensive. If sugar subsidies changed it could level the playing field for innovative methods like this sweet gel made from cocoa fruit.
Another added bonus is the jobs this form of sugar making could create. If the plant parts are processed in-country, new manufacturing jobs would be added. Countries like Benin have been looking for ways to expand domestic processing to improve value capture. If the whole fruit is to be used, then it would make sense to erect refineries and drying facilities close to the harvesting areas. As one article says, rather than trying to divvy up the cake in more ways, this process just offers a larger cake. It could better support the millions of farmers who keep the chocolate industry supplied with cocoa beans, as well as create millions more jobs.
It’s not often that an innovation comes along with so few tradeoffs. Already chocolate manufactures around the world have contacted the Swiss inventors. Whole fruit chocolate could be the norm sooner than we think.
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