Cacao Barry, a global chocolate brand by Barry Callebaut, introduces WholeFruit chocolate that is made from 100 percent pure cacaofruit.
Good chocolate anchors a dish with well-balanced bittersweet flavours along with an irresistible aroma that wafts across the dining room. But great chocolate, well, great chocolate transforms – rich, fruity and utterly complex with a robust body that can only be described as pure ecstasy for the palate and the nose.
But great chocolate doesn’t come easy. Some, made from cacao beans of inferior provenance – and therefore quality – require the crutch of additives like emulsifiers and sweeteners to pass muster; others fail to hold up when examined under an ethical lens, leaving a sour taste in the mouth that can’t be washed away.
Enter WholeFruit chocolate, the latest product by Cacao Barry (a leading Gourmet brand by Barry Callebaut) that is aimed primarily for discerning artisans looking to solve both pain points. For one, it is made entirely from pure cacaofruit – “no refined sugars, no vanilla, no lecithin”, the brand declares – resulting in dark chocolate that contains around 40 percent less sugar than its consumed contemporaries. Both the beans and fresh pulp are used to craft the chocolate, resulting in a unique zesty and fruity flavour profile. It is perfectly suited for pastry and confectionery applications, so watch this space in the coming months for exciting creations by top chefs as they discover the possibilities of WholeFruit chocolate.
Sustainable and innovative
Furthermore, the product tackles another issue – chocolate’s bittersweet relationship with the environment. Forests in cacao-producing countries have been cut down in swathes to make way for cacao plants. The world’s largest exporter of cacao, the Ivory Coast, has reportedly lost four-fifths of its forests in the last half-century.
Up to 70 per cent of the actual cacaofruit is usually discarded as well, since it is only the valuable beans that are processed into chocolate. Here, Cacao Barry partners up with another of the Swiss house’s sub-brands, Cabosse Naturals, to upcycle a portion of the pulp and peel into usable foodstuff. Apart from lessening waste, this provides an alternative income stream for the 450 smallholder Ecuadorian farmers that supply the cacao that goes into WholeFruit chocolate.
There’s another boon that results from this close working relationship – end-to-end, there’s less than a five-hour gap between harvesting and processing cacaofruits, meaning fresher produce and stronger flavours that make it to the final product.
EvocaoTM, a dark couverture chocolate in the WholeFruit range, has already been launched in countries like France, Italy, the United States and Japan. An expression of Dominican Republic and Ecuador cacaofruits, it is now available in Singapore. WholeFruit EvocaoTM chocolate recently won the 2022 World Food Innovation for Best Artisan Product, and is the first-ever chocolate to be Upcycled Certified by the Upcycled Food Association. Excellent news if you’re in need of great chocolate for your next gateau.