Chocolate Fix: Top 5 Tips for Rethinking Your Cocoa Reduction in Sweet Bakes
The cocoa market
remains in a sticky situation.
Although speculators are hopeful on the crop’s rebound in 2025, underlying issues now coupled with new regulatory complexities are posing concerns in the future of cocoa. Looking ahead the 2024/2025 season, Ghana’s government-led Cocoa Board (Cocobod) expressed optimism to yield over 800,000 tonnes.
This, however, is less than 55% of the African producer’s average output – which could still do little to alleviate ongoing setbacks in the supply pool. Moreover, lags in the 2024 supply chain could also anticipate one of the steepest price hikes into 2025 (Source: Confectionery News). Thus, how long it will take for prices to return from years prior remains to be seen.
While it is highly critical to monitor the market situation, it is, at the same time, business-as-usual for our industry. Bakers and developers are now tasked to navigate challenges in volatile supply, high cocoa prices and still create products at the right price points amidst an already inflated FMCG landscape.
The Elephant In The Room
So, what’s the reality of cocoa? It is nearly impossible to replace.
With over 600 volatile compounds contributing to its aroma and flavor, cocoa is one of the most complicated baking ingredients to handle. Its color and texture profile will also vary depending on the bean’s origins and the manner it was processed. More than that, cocoa also fulfills certain functions when added into specific sweet goods applications.
Lately, replacing cocoa in recipes has been trending in the food industry.
Deducing from its complex properties and function, swapping out the ingredient requires deep technical and application expertise to make alternatives work. Partnering with experts, brands aiming to retain the same chocolate profile without the key ingredient consider this as a workable option for their existing portfolio.
Key sensorial properties lost when reducing cocoa in a baking recipe:
Color
Flavor
Texture
While many may have gained success, it is also common for some brands not finding this as an optimal route. After factoring the time and R&D spent in reformulating, some businesses may find the costs in customising a solution outweighing savings.
The good news is, there are still other ways to reduce or switch out cocoa altogether without succumbing to pressures of high prices.
Rethinking Your Cocoa Reduction Strategy in Sweet Baked Goods
Despite being ubiquitous, Asians can’t get enough of this brown morsel. Whatever the main motivations are for a chocolate fix – boosting mood, sharing happiness or satisfying a sweet tooth – consumers’ love for chocolate products in general have persisted even during economic disruptions and soaring cocoa prices.
Source: Nielson IQ 2022, Bloomberg 2023
So, how can bakers and developers create distinctive products or adapt their recipes despite the crisis?
TIP 1
Cut Down On Chocolate
One of the most straight forward approaches is to simply reduce the amount of chocolate used in recipes. Without skimping too much, cutting back between 10% to 20% of chocolate coatings in a recipe, for instance, still offers enough coverage in biscuits or cakes while retaining overall product mouthfeel.
TIP 2
Add Layers Of
Texture Into The Mix
Substituting part of the chocolate content with creamy pastes was one of the oldest cookbook tricks among confectioners. In the 1800’s, Gianduia, a velvety hazelnut-based paste mixed with cocoa powder, was born out of Italian chefs’ attempt to recreate chocolates without affecting flavor. The result? An instant hit among the locals.
Bringing this learning today, the alternative approach of adding special bakery ingredients (e.g. luxurious cream fillings) in lieu of chocolate not only offers a myriad of creative possibilities but also sensorial play. For many brands, sensory is increasingly taking centre stage to deliver memorable taste experiences. Hence, complementing chocolate-based sweet goods with a wonderland of textures can exude nothing short of fun and intrigue for consumers.
In fact, sweet treats with texture claims featured at front-of-pack has grown at 24.6% in Asia Pacific – crunchy, smooth and soft being popular descriptors (Source: Mintel GNPD).
So how do we make this work in sweet bakery? Think layering biscuits with gooey sauces, adding crunchy inclusion pieces or sprinkling with gummy-like toppings – the combination possibilities are endless.
TIP 3
Adjust With Flavors
Complementing your selected specialty ingredients with indulgent flavors can still give off a chocolatey perception though at its reduced version. Cocoa’s bitter notes pair well with other brown flavors such as rich caramel or peanut butter. In Asia, dessert flavors such as brownies are still growing in popularity and can imbibe classic takes.
If moving away from mainstream flavor groups (e.g. nuts) is your target, hot drinks (e.g. tea, coffee) could resonate novelty to modern consumers while flavor contrasts through salty or sour profiles (e.g. fruits) lend to unique, complex tastes in chocolate-based products.
TIP 4
Color Your Whites
White chocolates are seeing a resurgence in Asia. Unlike its brown counterpart, the main advantages of this variant are apart from being cocoa powder-free, they have a wider legroom for creating eye-catching sweet goods too. Use it as a test bed for on-trend flavors complemented with striking hues to deliver the lure of indulgence chocolate offers.
TIP 5
Go Beyond Chocolates
Thinking out-of-the-box? If you are aiming to work on a neutral base, why not consider non-chocolate profiles to deliver new indulgent experiences? Asia’s love for dairy flavoured sweet goods (Source: Mintel GNPD) can be a good starting point. Flavors like Japanese cheesecake or custard can carve opportunities for testing fun variety extensions or limited time offers (LTOs) if brands haven’t taken this route.
Finding new ways to launch consumer-centric products amidst any crisis is both daunting and stressful. Inasmuch as we hope for a bittersweet ending to elevated cocoa prices and fluctuating supply, the good news is that, innovation is far from over and there are alternatives to meet your consumers’ growing demand for chocolate products.
Innovate Faster
With Sensient
As every business is different, we stay true to our Customer-First commitment by working with you to find the best approach – be it tailoring an ideal cocoa alternative or crafting the right flavor-color strategy. Whether you are a baker or a developer, Sensient’s quick prototyping can help you innovate faster in times of crisis so you can focus on what matters most – your consumers. Discover ways to offset cocoa from a variety of sweet goods here
