I was shocked to see that US food giant Cargill is going ahead with its ambitious plan to bring cocoa-free chocolate to the North American market. After the mass uproar over Hershey’s sneaking it into their flagship brands… Will you buy ‘alt-cocoa’ products?
In the beginning…
Folks complained about confectioners using less chocolate in their products and loading them with fillers like puffed rice cereal and ‘crispy wafers’. But even that road became too narrow, profit-wise, for the candy industry. And recently Hershey – the iconic American chocolate maker – was called out for sneaking cocoa substitutes into its chocolate.
Brad Reese, grandson of the founder of Reese’s candy, publicly lambasted Hershey (which owns Reese’s) for sneaking faux cocoa into its products – notably top-seller Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups. He was tipped off by a small print notation on the label obliquely indicating that the chocolate cup and top layer of PB Cups was no longer ‘Pure Milk Chocolate’. So much for a proud 132-year tradition…
Hershey’s was forced to backtrack, promising to restore all the products it was using alt-chocolate in to 100% Pure Chocolate by early next year.
Not really a new ‘thing’
Folks have been touting ‘natural’ coca alternatives for decades – notably Carob. The tropical carob tree produces beans that smell and taste like chocolate and can be processed similarly to produce something very close to what most of us think of as ‘chocolate’. But’s clearly not chocolate. Though it has found a following among natural food and sustainable food fans.
Rather than concentrating on refining carob into a more acceptable chocolate substitute – as some commonsensical types might suggest – the big chocolate makers have turned to the lab to produce ‘cocoa-like’ substances using everything from sunflower seeds to grape seeds.
Many reasons for backlash
There are many reasons consumers are rejecting alt-cocoa products. The first is simply the Big Lie. Big Chocolate has taken the sneaky route – up to now – and choco-fans are furious about the ‘deception’. Among the tricks the manufacturers use: simply removing the ‘Pure Chocolate’ declaration from their labels. Another favourite is changing the wording to ‘Chocolately-Flavoured’. In fact, they’ve devel-oped a whole new lexicon to conceal or mislead consumers about the contents of their products.
Another thing that stokes fans’ ire is the fact that manufacturers aren’t passing on to consumers any of the savings alt-cocoa brings them. I’m a big chocolate fan – though not a big consumer in candy, or by casual consumption in general. But I instinctively railed at the effrontery of Hershey’s sneaking cheaper alt-cocoa into their products and charging the same already sky high prices.
Perhaps the most telling reason folks aren’t embracing alt-cocoa products is the ‘experience’. None of the products containing cocoa substitutes that I’ve tried was anywhere close to real chocolate. They were all clearly distinguishable from chocolate in either their aromas, flavours or textures, or a combination of those factors. One of the best ways to tell fake from real chocolate, I think, is to evaluate the finish – that residual, essential flavour ‘ghost’ that it leaves on your palate after you swallow.
Nevertheless…
Food Giant Cargill is partnering with alt-foods start-up Voyage Foods on NextCoa. Cargill calls it a ‘future-proof’ chocolate substitute that tastes and behaves just like the real thing… Key benefits to manufacturers include its sustainability and price stability.
I haven’t tasted it yet. But that would have to be my key factor in accepting or rejecting the stuff. And above all, I’d demand that food processors and manufacturers ‘sustain’ total transparency about how they use it, and how much they use, in their products.
My take
Hershey’s experimented – openly – with alt-cocoa products back in 2023. But they didn’t fly on their own, when labelled ‘Plant-Based / Oat Chocolate Confections’.
I’ve said it before, and I gladly take this opportunity to reassert, my overall stand on alt-cocoa pro-ducts: the mass consumer acceptance that alternative chocolate, coffee and nut products need to thrive is just not there yet…
My questions to you:
Have you tried ‘alt-chocolate’ products?
Did you enjoy them?
Do you approve or disapprove of them?
Will you buy them?
Do you have a problem with manufacturers who sneak faux cocoa into their ‘chocolate’ products?
Do you think alt-chocolate products are here to stay? Are a little ahead of their time? Are years ahead of their time?
Muse on that…
~ Maggie J.