- Why Global Food Companies Are Turning Their Attention to Alternative Cacao
- Global Food Market
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Chocolate has always seemed to have one obvious star: the cacao bean.
But recently, food companies have started using sunflower seeds and fava beans to create chocolate-like flavors.
Even without cacao, these ingredients can deliver the sweetness, bitterness, and melt-in-your-mouth texture we associate with chocolate.
What was once more like an interesting experiment by food tech startups
is now attracting global ingredient companies as well.
So, what exactly is happening in the chocolate industry?
Cacao: “I’m Going to Get More Expensive.” Chocolate Companies: “I’m Going to Cry..”
The cacao market has been highly volatile in recent years.
Unpredictable weather and crop diseases in major producing regions, combined with declining yields, have made supply increasingly unstable, sending cacao prices sharply higher.
Naturally, chocolate manufacturers have also faced rising costs.
And even if prices come back down, the problem doesn’t necessarily disappear.
The same supply issues could happen again at any time.
So instead of simply raising product prices, companies have started asking a new question:
“Is there a way to reduce our dependence on cacao while preserving the chocolate experience?”
The idea of “alt-cocoa” began with exactly this question.
You Can Create a Chocolate Experience Without Cacao
“Alt-cocoa” refers to ingredients that use little or no cacao while recreating the flavor, color, and texture of chocolate.
German food tech company Planet A Foods developed ChoViva using sunflower seeds.
It can be used as a coating or filling for confectionery, snacks, desserts, and more.
UK-based Nukoko ferments and roasts fava beans to create flavors similar to chocolate.
And it’s not simply a matter of adding chocolate flavor!
The seeds and beans are processed to create roasted aromas and bitter notes,
while the fat content and manufacturing process are adjusted to recreate the way chocolate melts in your mouth.
Ultimately, the focus is not on what the ingredient is,
but on how much of a chocolate-like experience consumers feel when they eat it.
From Startup Experiment to an Option for Global Companies
The alt-cocoa market is gaining even more attention because global companies have started to make moves.
Global chocolate ingredient company Barry Callebaut is working with Planet A Foods to expand the market for ChoViva.
Global food ingredient company Döhler has also acquired Nukoko, which has technology based on fava beans.
These moves signal that alt-cocoa is moving beyond a small startup idea
and into a stage where real-world product applications and mass production are being explored.
That doesn’t mean conventional chocolate is about to disappear.
Rather than abandoning cacao altogether,
companies are expanding their ingredient options by using conventional cacao alongside alternative ingredients.
Instead of putting all their eggs in one basket, they’re preparing multiple Plan Bs.
3 Questions Food Brands Should Be Asking Themselves
The rise of alt-cocoa isn’t simply a story about one new ingredient entering the market.
It also shows how food brands can prepare when their ingredient supply becomes unstable.
1. How dependent are our products on a particular ingredient?
The first step is to examine how fluctuations in the price and supply of key ingredients could affect production or price competitiveness.
Even if you don’t replace the ingredient right away, researching alternatives in advance can expand your options.
2. Can we maintain the consumer experience even if the ingredient changes?
Consumers aren’t buying the ingredient itself. They’re buying the taste, aroma, texture, and overall experience.
When introducing an alternative ingredient, it’s important to consider how much of the experience consumers love about the existing product can be preserved.
3. Can we position it as a new option rather than a “substitute”?
If a product comes across as an inferior version of the original ingredient, consumers may not choose it even if it’s cheaper.
To position it as an independent product made with new technology and ingredients,
the name, packaging, category, and messaging all need to be designed together.
Ultimately, the potential of alternative ingredients can’t be judged by cost savings alone.
Supply stability, consumer experience, and market communication all need to be considered together before an alternative can become a viable product.
The Next Chapter of Food Ingredients, as Seen Through Alt-Cocoa
Alt-cocoa is one example of how the food industry is responding to uncertainty in ingredient supply.
When ingredient prices rise, companies don’t necessarily have to simply change the price tag.
They can look for ways to recreate the experiences consumers love using different ingredients.
And this kind of change may not stop with chocolate.
New alternatives could emerge in foods that depend heavily on specific regions or ingredients, such as coffee, sugar, fats and oils, and protein.
Going forward, food brands need to look beyond current ingredient prices.
They need to ask which ingredients their products are overly dependent on,
and whether they can recreate the same taste and experience in a different way if those ingredients become unstable.
Will chocolate made without cacao eventually replace conventional chocolate?
Or will it create an entirely new dessert category?
🧡 Three-Line Summary
1. Rising cacao prices and supply uncertainty are bringing greater attention to alt-cocoa.
2. Technologies using sunflower seeds and fava beans to recreate chocolate-like flavors and textures are expanding into real-world products.
3. As global ingredient companies form partnerships and make acquisitions, alt-cocoa is moving beyond experimentation to become a new option in the market.
📌 Sources
FoodNavigator Asia, “The alt-cocoa boom and Big Chocolate’s search for cocoa alternatives”
Planet A Foods · Barry Callebaut materials on their alternative cocoa partnership
Döhler’s announcement on the acquisition of Nukoko
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