ATA #334 - Whole Cocoa Chocolate

Level: Apprentice

Read Time: 5 minutes

This week I'm digging into some different scenarios for the future of chocolate.  I certainly have some opinions.  A shock, I know!!

I'd like to get your opinion on the following article where the cocoa fruit is processed and used in place of sugar. Have you tried this? Are you aware of it being used? https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cn47zg3xgxxo

Oh, I love opinion pieces as I don’t really have to be right or wrong, I just get to talk.  I’m good with that.

For those who didn’t read the article, the TLDR is this.  Some Swiss food scientists realized there is sugar in the pulp of the cacao fruit and they had the not terribly unreasonable idea that since chocolate has sugar, and cacao fruit has sugar, might it make sense they could make a chocolate sweetened with cocoa sugar?  Whole Cocoa Chocolate as it were.

To answer the direct questions, no, I’ve not tried it.  I’d be game but I’ve not found a way to get any.  If anyone has any leads, drop me a line.

Was I aware of it?  Yes, I’ve come across other mentions of Whole Cocoa Chocolate, and foreshadowing, it didn’t much excite me for a few reasons I’ll get into.

Before I get there, there is another very tangential variant of whole Cocoa chocolate, Cocoa free chocolate. Eatwinwin seems to be the main developer of this cocoa free chocolate, and to date, it has left a slightly sour taste in my mouth.  For all of Eatwinwin’s flashy site and spin about great taste, sustainability, wanting to get the word out and all that, I tried for nearly 2 months to get a sample for evaluation and they basically stonewalled me and put me off and stopped responding to me.  Actions speak louder than words.

I’m not sounding really positive, am I?

Maybe not. But,  I’m always out there looking for new ways to do things.  I think that exploration is the basis of so much science and discovery and I love science and discovery.

In the world of whole cocoa chocolate, I think it is really cool to take what is basically a waste product (cocoa pulp and pods) and turn them into something usable. In this case though, when I do the thought experiment of 10 or 20 years down the road, I’m having a hard time picturing this being a sustainable or worthwhile product.  It feels like a novelty.  They even suggest problems in the article when they talk about the high cost of processing the pulp into a gel.  

The gel is worth unpacking a little.  It seems so far they are not even processing it all the way to a dry sugar but instead a gel that contains water and somehow (they don’t explain how) they are adding that to cocoa solids and not having it seize.  Maybe it is seizing. I suspect it is some variant of an industrial process like is used for evaporated milk.  It is combined, it seizes, and they process it on a heated roller mill making a type of crumb that can then be refined into chocolate. I’m not sure.  That is all fine and good (kind of) except we, the small bean to bar makers, use melanger/refiners and ball mills.  We can’t make use of this cocoa gel, so at the end of the day—if that’s the case, this is for Big Chocolate or just funsies (which I can get behind).

Another thing the Swiss scientists don’t mention is the acid content of cacao pulp.  I have experimented with fermenting the pulp and the acidity level is high enough that it takes quite a bit of neutralization to make it taste good in chocolate.  I’m mainly mentioning it as in order to make use of this waste product, it has to be processed pretty heavily and I’m not fan of that.  I’d much rather see collaborations with farmers where they collect the pulp and maybe ferment it into a value product that way.  Is that more practical?  I’m not sure, but remember, you ask for my opinions, not a feasibility study.

Going back to the cocoa-less chocolate, I’ll admit, my snubbing aside, I’m just not a fan of synthetic foods. Sure, it is made with natural extracts, fungi, ferments and the like but it just doesn’t feel good to me.  I’m a life long omnivore and mostly whole food consumer.  I own that.  I’ve tried meatless meat alternatives and I both don’t really like them and I don’t believe they are going to save the world, so in many ways, I don’t see their point. I’d rather just eat curried lentils. The same applies to chocolate without cocoa. I’m having trouble seeing the point. I’d rather just not eat chocolate.

In chocolate, or at least in the craft bean to bar chocolate world, it is as much about the relationships as it is about the chocolate.  I’ve thought about this a lot and I think I’d rather do without chocolate than eliminate the people who have put their lives into growing cocoa.  I hear you saying that maybe the climate will change enough that those growers won’t be able to grow cocoa and I have to give a nod to that.  I’m find this eco-washing of lab grown chocolate does not sit well with me.  Opinion, remember? Good.

While I have your ear, let’s take a moment to talk about lead and cadmium in chocolate.  It has taken me way too long to read through the multi hundred page research studies on the presence of lead and cadmium in chocolate.  I owe all of you a thorough thought out breakdown of what I read.  The super condensed version is that I thought it was an overblown issue before the report and I continue to think it is an overblown issue and that many of the recommendation to stop using cocoa from sources that show some level of lead and cadmium is a bit socially.....callous.  We are a first world country and are spoiled and privileged in so many ways. The stance we should just cut out growers that happen to have pulled the (questionably) short straw isn’t something I like.  

I’ve talked to a few people about this and the concept of Fair Transition and Just Transition came up.  To quote from the United Nations:

The green and fair transition advocated by the UN combines environmental sustainability with social justice, adhering to the principle of leaving no one behind. The concept acknowledges that both components are interconnected and must be addressed to craft a more sustainable future for all.

From the Just Transition Alliance:

The principle of just transition is that a healthy economy and a clean environment can and should co-exist. The process for achieving this vision should be a fair one that should not cost workers or community residents their health, environment, jobs, or economic assets.

Leaving no one behind that really calls to me.  Sure, we don’t want what could be harmful levels of metals in our chocolate.  I also don’t want to cut out folks who have little to no control in the short term about the cocoa the produce for their livelihood.  I think a much more compassionate and thoughtful response needs to happen.  I’m not sure what that looks like but what it does not look like is no longer buying cocoa from sources that might or might not have metal contents of concern.  Some Just Transition to helping them mitigate the issue without leaving them suddenly bereft of an income is the direction I support.

Don’t forget this is about opinions.

Tying up the conversation (for now) about metals, another paper has come across my desk that basically is saying what I’m saying (yes, I’m fully aware of confirmation bias and liking a view I already hold) that the lead and cadmium blow up was way out of proportion to the potential hazards.  I’ll link to that paper when I write up my full article about potential metal content in cocoa.

Whew.  Where does that leave us?  I think it is simply full circle.  Yes, I’ve heard about those chocolate innovations of Whole Cocoa chocolate and Cocoaless Chocolate and not unlike ruby chocolate (psst, two new ruby cocoa beans will be in this October). It is interesting but it isn’t going to change the chocolate world.  I applaud the research but I don’t like the spin.  Let’s see where it takes us and if it inspires new ideas and innovations.  As is, I don’t think either one is viable currently.