Substitutes Offsetting Sky-High Cocoa Prices

Hershey Co. in July confirmed it’s raising prices on its chocolate candies by "low double-digit" percentages, with most price hikes coming in the fall. In some cases, pack sizes will get smaller; in others, list prices will rise. “This change is not related to tariffs or trade policies,” a Hershey spokesperson told us. “It reflects the reality of rising ingredient costs including the unprecedented cost of cocoa.”

Hershey is not alone. Also in July, Swiss chocolatier Lindt acknowledged it already has increased prices by 15.8% in the first half of this year. Nestle’s financial reports have included references to price hikes. While Mondelez has been quietly working them in over the past year, the company is cautiously optimistic about the cocoa price outlook, citing improving market fundamentals and a promising West African pod count.

Cocoa is a complex flavor, and it’s also familiar to almost all consumers, so replacing it is tricky. Ardent Mills and Prova introduced solutions at the July IFT FIRST food ingredients show.

Wheat is the main ingredient in Ardent Mills’ (www.ardentmills.com) Cocoa Replace, the toasting process providing most of the sensory (both flavor and color) attributes of cocoa. Based on U.S.-sourced wheat, it not only provides a cost savings but also a stable, domestic supply.

By replacing up to 25% of the cocoa powder in standard formulations, Cocoa Replace can provide significant cost savings. It also lowers the fat content of the final product, since cocoa powder typically has 10-12% fat.

See also "Barry Callebaut Invests in Cultured Cocoa Research"

Ardent Mills sampled a devil’s food cupcake at the IFT show with a quarter of its cocoa substituted with Cocoa Replace. As a single-ingredient solution, it simplifies reformulation and keeps label changes to a minimum, especially in chocolate products already based on wheat.

“We believe cocoa prices will remain high for another three-plus years,” says Stefan Bucher, senior principal scientist. Ardent Mills focuses on mostly bakery applications, and the firm showed prototypes at the IFT show for cakes, muffins, brownies, cookies, pancakes & waffles, quick bread and pumpernickel bread.

Prova, too, showed cocoa substitutes at the show. “We put together a toolbox that included flavor samples and their respective usage rates and organoleptic sensory charts,” says Justin Demers, director of applications and product development for Prova (provaus.com). “We've validated these flavors specifically for compound companies to reduce up to 30% cocoa in their products.”

Protec is the name for all of Prova’s technical solutions; Cocoa Reduction Flavor Solutions are within that. “All cocoa powder/solids have unique flavor profiles,” Demers continues. “We create tailormade solutions for our customers, but this box shows a selection of what types of profiles we can target, even with off-the-shelf options.”

Prova’s applications focus on baked goods, sweet confections, beverages and dairy-based creations. “All of the solutions are similar in the sense that they are composed cocoa/chocolate flavors that are designed to supplement up to a 30% reduction of cocoa powder in different applications. There is no single key ingredient, and they all have unique cocoa/chocolate flavor profiles. They are formulated with the specific solubility and processing tolerance of each application in mind.”

A year ago, Planet A Foods (planet-a-foods.com), based in Germany, was using sunflower seeds and oats as main ingredients for its ChoViva cocoa replacers. But this year, “We’ve updated our recipes and are using sunflower seeds and grape seed flour as main ingredients,” says Marketing Manager Jessica Karch.

The company began developing its solution in 2021, before the current cocoa price spikes. So reducing the cost was not the company founders’ intention -- they learned that demand for cocoa was causing mass deforestation, exacerbated by climate change, so they set out to create chocolate without cocoa.

“Planet A Foods isn’t just about ChoViva — we’re an ingredients company working to de-risk global supply chains by developing alternatives for endangered ingredients,” Karch explains. “Our overall vision is to save 500 million tons of carbon dioxide per year.”

ChoViva has not made it into the U.S. market yet, but it’s currently an ingredient in chocolate-flavored cookies, peanut butter cups and cereal found on German and Austrian grocery store shelves – altogether, it’s in approximately 70 products in nine countries worldwide. A launch in the U.S. has been a goal. “It’s on our list, and we’re already in talks with several partners,” says Karch. A cocoa butter alternative also is in development.

Briess Malt & Ingredients (www.briess.com) dark-roasts malted flours that can provide cocoa flavor and varying shades of brown color. T. Hasegawa’s (www.thasegawa.com) Cocoa Powder Replacer was designed specifically for beverage applications, and comes in both powder and liquid forms.

Two ubiquitous technologies are teaming up to help. NotCo (tech.notco.com), the Chilean food tech company in which Kraft Heinz has an investment, says its Giuseppe AI platform can create customized cocoa-free chocolate alternatives that mimic the taste, texture, and melt of traditional chocolate without relying on the strained cocoa supply chain. Using precision fermentation, the NotCo team optimized a blend of upcycled ingredients and sustainable crops to craft an alternative that resembles real cocoa flavor.