Rich Mouthfeel: The Key to a Cocoa Butter Equivalent Experience
With rising cocoa powder costs, it can be hard to navigate the world of specialty ingredient sourcing. But with Butter Buds as a partner, you can achieve cost savings and superior mouthfeel with the help of our experienced food technologists. Read on to learn about the state of the cocoa ingredient world and how Cocoa Butter Buds® can be your next ingredient solution.
Cocoa Powder Costs on the Rise
Everybody's favorite sweet treat—chocolate—has been getting more expensive lately as cocoa prices are on the rise. According to JPMorgan, “Cocoa prices have skyrocketed in recent months, reaching historical highs of nearly $10,000 per metric ton in March 2024.”2
This is mainly due to a climate-induced impact on cocoa plants resulting in a supply shortage. The chocolate and confectionery industry is now faced with challenges, such as price hikes.2 Many brands are grappling with what to do in place of cocoa and are exploring alternative ingredient opportunities.
Chocolate: A Classic Flavor
Chocolate is a staple in many of the sweet treats we know and love. In fact:
- 46% of consumers say chocolate is their go-to comfort food.1
- 1 in 2 chocolate consumers enjoy indulgent chocolate treats at least once a week.1
Also, a large percentage of consumers—54% to be exact3—prefer pure chocolate. This also means that consumers know what the mouthfeel and texture of chocolate should be like. The mouthfeel consists of cocoa butter content and the balance of sugar & fat. The cocoa butter content—the natural fat found in chocolate—gives chocolate its smooth texture.4 The sugar and fat balance give chocolate its mix of sweetness, creaminess and richness.4 This presents an interesting challenge to food and beverage companies looking to formulate products with chocolate-alternative ingredients.
Classic flavors—like chocolate—are also loved by food and beverage companies because of their limitlessness in applications and formulations. But when it comes to introducing cost-saving solutions to combat the increased price of cocoa, Butter Buds® can help achieve “chocolate-flavored” formulations that taste like real chocolate.
Enter: Cocoa Butter Buds®
Because chocolate is such a classic, popular flavor, being able to mimic flavor and mouthfeel closely is important to satisfy consumers. With Cocoa Butter Buds®—a non-dairy (Kosher/Pareve) concentrate solution from Butter Buds—you can achieve the same rich mouthfeel because our ingredient solution is made with real cocoa fat.
Cocoa Butter Buds® is an intense, concentrated powder made with real cocoa fat. Produced using our proprietary enzyme modification, Cocoa Butter Buds® provides formulators with a cost-effective cocoa powder that allows them to improve chocolate flavor like never before. Chocolate’s rich flavor is based on an ideal 3-to-1 ratio of cocoa fat to cocoa solids. Most chocolate-flavored foods are made with cocoa powder that has a 1-to-9 (fat-to-solids) ratio, leaving an incomplete chocolate flavor. Until now, it has been impossible to add enough cocoa fat to balance the flavor without adversely affecting texture, processing, nutritional profile and cost. And, with a typical usage of 0.5%, Cocoa Butter Buds® contributes less than 0.07% fat to the final formulation, yet provides complete chocolate flavor without adding significant fat or cost.
Reach Out to Our Team
In a time when chocolate prices are soaring, Cocoa Butter Buds® can be the solution to creating products with good mouthfeel that are sure to still win over consumers. Or, if you are looking to just round out chocolate flavor and add rich, longer-lasting cocoa fat notes to any food or beverage where cocoa powder is used, try Cocoa Butter Buds®.
Questions? Learn more about Cocoa Butter Buds® on our website or contact our team directly.
Sources:
1(Mintel - chocolate confectionery - US - 2024)
2https://www.jpmorgan.com/insights/global-research/commodities/cocoa-prices
