Zwitsers ontwikkelen de perfecte chocolade

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Zwitsers ontwikkelen de perfecte chocolade
Uitgegeven: 17 juli 2009 12:26
Laatst gewijzigd: 17 juli 2009 12:26

BAARN - De nieuwe chocolade van het Zwitserse Callebaut bevat tot 90 procent minder calorieën en smelt bovendien niet meer in de hand.

Barry Callebaut, de grootste chocoladeproducent ter wereld, heeft naar eigen zeggen chocolade ontwikkeld die tot 90 procent minder calorieën bevat en bovendien niet in de hand, maar enkel nog in de mond smelt.

De verkoop van chocolade is in Westerse landen gedaald door de vele calorieën die er in zitten. Callebaut hoopt met de nieuwe chocolade een nieuwe markt te kunnen aanboren.

Smelten

Het smeltpunt van de nieuwe chocolade, die de naam Vulcano krijgt, ligt op 55 graden. Normale chocolade daarentegen smelt, afhankelijk van de samenstelling, al vanaf 30 graden.

Wie snakt naar een stukje chocolade op een warme zomerdag, hoeft zich dus geen zorgen meer te maken dat hij of zij helemaal onder het zwarte goedje komt te zitten.

Volgens Callebaut smaakt de chocolade luchtig en knapperig met een sterk aroma.

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Melt-resistant chocolate to beat the stains

Tired of confectionary bars dissolving in your pockets or hands? The world's largest chocolate maker has designed a melt-resistant solution to the sticky problem.
The innovative "Vulcano" chocolate from Swiss firm Barry Callebaut melts at 55 degrees Celsius compared with the normal 37 degrees – or body temperature. It is also infused with air bubbles to reduce the calorie count.

Barry Callebaut has found a way of tweaking cocoa butter to make it more resistant to heat, and in addition uses less of the melt-inducing ingredient to make the Vulcano product.

The company hopes its new chocolate will appeal both to figure-conscious consumers and to confectionary makers drawn to its practical qualities.

Although Vulcano has not been designed with any specific geographical market in mind, the firm believes its firmness under heat pressure will go down well in hotter climes.

"The heat resistance is an attractive quality in hot countries where the logistics and cooling chains are not perfect or the product risks melting on the shelves to no longer look appetising," Barry Callebaut spokeswoman Gaby Tschofen told swissinfo.ch.

"It could be used as a filling and for biscuits but it can also be moulded. We have a milk chocolate version, a dark one, a white one and fruit flavours. They are all natural with no artificial ingredients," she added.

Have chocolate, will travel
Barry Callebaut is currently presenting Vulcano to industrial partners, but consumers will probably have to wait another two years before the final products hit the shelves.

Switzerland is no stranger to innovative chocolate products that are practically a national symbol along with mountains and cheese.

Jochen Binder from the Institute of Marketing at St Gallen University also believes the new chocolate could prove a hit.

"The selling point of any new product is always the additional value it brings for the customer," he told swissinfo.ch.

"It does appear to have convenience value in that it doesn't melt so easily in your pocket or hand. This would be useful when you are travelling, particularly in hotter countries."

Any extra value the new chocolate may bring to confectioners will depend on how they choose to market their new products made with Vulcano, Binder added.

Novelty value
One example might be to highlight the different sensation the chocolate would have in consumers' mouths as it takes longer to melt.

"It may appeal to consumers known as 'first adopters' who like to try new things and get additional value from being able to explore something new," he said. "This might take off at first for the novelty value, but it would then become normal."

Zurich-based Barry Callebaut, the biggest manufacturer of chocolate in the world, posted a 66 per cent rise in net profits last year of SFr205 million ($190 million). The company supplies cocoa and chocolate products for companies such as Cadburys and Nestlé.

Matthew Allen, swissinfo.ch