Reuters says chocolate sweetened with cocoa fruit pulp is about to hit supermarket shelves with food giant Nestle ready to launch its “Incoa” bar.
Using cocoa fruit pulp, which is normally discarded, to flavour products reduces sugar and cuts food waste while boosting the income of cocoa farmers who can “upcycle” their cocoa by selling both the pulp and the beans.
That ticks several boxes with health-and environmentally-conscious consumers.
The company is launching Incoa, which has no added sugar, in supermarkets in France and the Netherlands with other European markets to follow.
Nestle is sourcing the raw material from cocoa farms in Brazil, but also working with partners in West Africa to see if pulp production could work there. Von Maillot said cocoa farmers could boost their income by 20-40% if they also sold the pulp.
Lamine Keita, a cocoa farmer in Duekoue, Ivory Coast, said he hadn’t yet been asked to sell cocoa fruit pulp. “If we can sell more than the beans to increase our income, that’s all we can ask for because beans alone are not enough to get us out of poverty,” he said.
Further reading:
- Ivory Coast, Ghana push to boost cocoa payments
- Nestlé commits to £1 billion in regenerative agriculture
- Nestle invites KitKat cocoa farmers to new scheme
