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Re-inventing chocolate

9 replies

MsAmerica · 18/09/2024 21:41

Climate change prompted these scientists to reinvent chocolate
Anna-Lena Krug, a food scientist at Planet A Foods, estimates that she and her colleagues tweaked the recipe "between 700 and 800 times," before arriving at what they call ChoViva, a chocolate alternative that discards the cocoa bean.
https://www.npr.org/2024/09/11/nx-s1-5009917/cocoa-chocolate-climate-change

Chocolate, but without the guilt? Why lab-grown cocoa and fermented fava beans could be the future
https://www.cnn.com/science/cocoa-free-chocolate-greener-spc-c2e/index.html

OP posts:
canihaveacoffeeplease · 19/09/2024 11:27

This is interesting! There is a huge worldwide chocolate crisis brewing, and prices are rising very very rapidly. I work in chocolate and our suppliers have been great keeping us appraised of price hikes due to a perfect storm of issues, we've spent 10s of 1000s on chocolate to help us ride it out over the next 18 months. I think price rises are only just starting to hit consumers but there are huge rises and a lot of shock coming. We bought a lot, but there is a fellow chocolatier in our town, much bigger scale but still artisan, I found out on Friday he's bought 14 tonnes of chocolate Shock! That's hundreds of thousands worth. Luckily for us chocolate is only a small part of our business.

callisandra · 15/04/2025 06:02

It all seems fake now, not much you can buy , lidl like many suppliers and manufacturers have been swap out cocoa butter with El cheapo ingredients , like McVitie's and cadburys , mondelez with Shea fat and derivatives , and palm kernel oil and derivatives (poison ivy family ), mango kernel oil and derivatives both are bad for you Shea is a very bad indigestible fat , was mainly used in cosmetics, but it cause a white oily film when added to chocolate, and also the mango kernel oil can also cause problems for some as its a member of poison ivy family , and that's why most chocolate and chocolate biscuits / bars / cakes in Lidl and other stores are nasty and cause acid reflux , these "cutting" ingredients i found in sainsbury and aldi as well, it causes a white oily bloom, and can cause problems for people with sensitive stomachs /children and people with IBS . Its best to avoid all modern chocolate as its "cut" with some nasty oils, that cause digestion and health problems , the aldi and lidl , belsen butter biscuits as yet have not had the chocolate "cut" with the 3 nasties yet !

EmpressaurusKitty · 15/04/2025 06:29

I only buy Montezuma’s Absolute Black 100% cocoa bars nowadays - love the taste & texture & it’s so rich that I only want a couple of squares at a time. It did take a while to work up to though!

BigDahliaFan · 15/04/2025 06:32

I’m shocked at how much real chocolate costs, but the ‘cheap’ stuff tastes like crap. Oh well, if it gets more expensive maybe I’ll cut down.

EmpressaurusKitty · 15/04/2025 08:02

BigDahliaFan · 15/04/2025 06:32

I’m shocked at how much real chocolate costs, but the ‘cheap’ stuff tastes like crap. Oh well, if it gets more expensive maybe I’ll cut down.

The Montezuma 100% is £3 per 90g bar in my local Asda, so definitely more than the Cadburys etc, but one bar easily lasts me a week so I’m happy with that.

callisandra · 16/04/2025 07:20

BigDahliaFan · 15/04/2025 09:01

i shall be take a trip to get the good stuff ! some of the premium stuff in aldi is junk fat additive free at moment

minnienono · 16/04/2025 07:23

I like the premium lidl and Aldi chocolate, definitely better than the brands

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