Swiss scientists reduce waste and sugar

Imagine you pick up a delicious, juicy apple, but instead of biting into it, you throw away the rest, leaving only the seeds.

This is how chocolate producers traditionally process cocoa beans: they use only the beans and discard the rest.

But now, Swiss food scientists have found a way to make chocolate using the entire cocoa plant, not just the cocoa beans, and without using sugar.

Developed by Kim Mischra and his team at the prestigious Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich, chocolate is made up of the pulp, juice and husk or endocarp of the cocoa bean.

The process has already caught the attention of sustainable food companies.

Traditional chocolate production is said to use only the fruit, which is the size of a pumpkin and is so nutritious that the rest is left to rot in the field.

The new chocolate is based on a very sweet juice, which Mishra describes as having a “very fruity, pineapple-like” flavour.

With a sugar content of 14%, the juice is distilled to create a highly concentrated syrup, combined with the pulp and then, to take sustainability to a new level, mixed with the dried rind or endosperm to form an ultra-sweet cocoa gel.

By adding this gel to cocoa beans to make chocolate, sugar is no longer needed.

Mr Mishra sees his invention as the latest in a long line of innovations from the Swiss chocolate maker.

In the 19th century, Rudolf Lindt of the famous Lindt chocolate family accidentally invented the important step of chocolate “conching”, that is, rolling the warm cocoa mass to make it smooth and reduce the acidity. He left the cocoa mass mixer on all night. The result in the morning? Delicious, smooth, sweet chocolate.

“You have to be innovative to stay in the category,” Mishra said. “Otherwise… you’re just making ordinary chocolate.”

Mishra worked on his project with KOA, a Swiss startup working on sustainable cocoa farming. Co-founder Anian Schreiber believes that using the whole cocoa fruit can solve many of the problems of the cocoa industry, from skyrocketing cocoa bean prices to widespread poverty among cocoa farmers.

“Instead of fighting over who gets how much of the cake, let’s make the cake bigger so that everyone can benefit,” he explained.

“Not only do farmers earn significant additional income from the use of cocoa pulp, but important industrial processing also takes place at the source, creating jobs and value that can be distributed at the source.”

Mr Schreiber describes the existing chocolate production system, which involves farmers in Africa or South America selling their cocoa beans to large chocolate manufacturers in wealthy countries, as “unsustainable”.

The model is also questioned in a new exhibition in Geneva that explores Switzerland’s colonial past.

To those who point out that Switzerland never had its own colonies, chocolate historian Letizia Pinoha counters that Swiss mercenaries policed ​​other countries’ colonies and Swiss shipowners transported slaves.

Geneva in particular has a special connection to the most exploitative stages of the chocolate industry, she says.

“Geneva was a center for trade in goods, and since the 18th century, cocoa arrived in Geneva and was then spread throughout Switzerland to produce chocolate.

“If it had not been for this trade in colonial goods, Switzerland would never have become the land of chocolate. And cocoa is no different from other kinds of colonial goods. They all come from slavery.”

Today, the chocolate industry is much more regulated. Producers must monitor their entire supply chain to ensure there is no child labor. And from next year, all chocolate imported into the European Union must be guaranteed that no deforestation occurred to grow the cocoa used in chocolate.

But does that mean all the problems are solved? Roger Wehrli, director of Chocosuisse, the Swiss chocolate manufacturers’ association, says there are still cases of child labor and deforestation, especially in Africa. He worries that some producers are simply moving production to South America to avoid these difficulties.

“Will this solve Africa’s problems? No. I think it would be better for responsible companies to stay in Africa and help improve the situation.”

That’s why Wehrli sees the new chocolate being developed in Zurich as “very promising… Using the whole cocoa bean means you get a better price. So it’s economically interesting for the farmers. And it’s also interesting from an ecological point of view.”

Anian Schreiber emphasizes the connection between chocolate production and the environment. He says that one third of all agricultural products “never end up in our mouths”.

In the case of cocoa, the statistics are even worse if you throw away the fruit and use only the beans. “It’s like throwing away the apple and using only the seeds. That’s what we’re doing with the cocoa fruit now.”

Food production involves significant greenhouse gas emissions, so reducing food waste can also help combat climate change. Chocolate, a niche luxury item, It may not be a big factor in itself, but But both Mr. Schreiber and Mr. Werley believe this could be a beginning.

But back in the lab, the big question remains: How much does this new chocolate cost? And most importantly, what does it actually taste like without sugar?

From the perspective of this chocolate-loving journalist, the answer to the last question is surprisingly good. Rich and rich, yet sweet, with a hint of cocoa bitterness that goes perfectly with an after-dinner coffee.

Because of the global power of the sugar industry and the generous subsidies it receives, costs can still be somewhat of a challenge. “As long as we subsidize, sugar will always be the cheapest ingredient in food,” explains Kim Mishra. “For one tonne For sugar, you’ll have to pay $500 (£394). Or cheaper.” The new chocolate will likely be more expensive for now, as cocoa pulp and juice are more expensive.

Nonetheless, chocolate producers from cocoa-growing countries, from Hawaii to Guatemala to Ghana, have contacted Mishra to learn about the new method.

In Switzerland, some large manufacturers, such as Lindt, have started using cocoa beans as well as beans, but so far no company has taken steps to eliminate sugar completely.

“We need to find bold chocolate producers who are willing to test the market and contribute to more sustainable chocolate,” said Mishra. “Then we can disrupt the system.”

Perhaps those bold producers are to be found in Switzerland, where the country’s chocolate industry produces 200,000 tons of chocolate annually, worth about $2 billion. At Chocosuisse, Roger Wehrli sees a more sustainable, but still bright future.

“I think chocolate will still be fantastically delicious in the future,” he argues. “And I think demand will increase in the future as the world population grows.”

And would they eat Swiss chocolate? “Of course,” he says.