Representational Picture
Credit: iStock
The conventional chocolate-making process has its dark sides, including carbon emissions and deforestation. However, a growing number of innovators are exploring out-of-the-box methods to produce chocolate more sustainably.
Traditionally, chocolate producers have used only cocoa beans, discarding the rest of the fruit. But now, food scientists in Switzerland have discovered a way to make chocolate using the entire cocoa fruit, not just the beans.
According to a BBC report, a team of food scientists led by Kim Mishta at Switzerland's Federal Institute of Technology has developed a new type of chocolate that incorporates the whole cocoa fruit—pulp, juice, and husk—without adding sugar.
The 'chocolate innovation,' as described by the team at the Federal Institute of Technology, involves first distilling the juice to create a densely sweet syrup that is then mixed with the pulp and husk, ensuring that nothing goes to waste. This sweet gel eliminates the need for added sugar, according to the BBC.
Using the entire cocoa fruit to make chocolate could address several issues plaguing the cocoa industry, including the rising price of cocoa beans and the endemic poverty among cocoa farmers.
Anian Schreiber, co-founder of a Swiss start-up focused on sustainable cocoa farming, told the BBC, "Instead of fighting over who gets how much of the cake, you make the cake bigger and make everybody benefit. The farmers gain significantly extra income by utilizing cocoa pulp, and important industrial processing occurs in the country of origin, creating jobs and adding value that can be distributed locally."