This week, FoodNavigator brings you new product development with a sweet touch: premium Ecuadorian chocolate that serves as a ‘catalyst for change’, Barry Callabaut’s 100% wholefruit chocolate, and Tangerine Confectionery’s nostalgic sweets.
This week, FoodNavigator brings you new product development with a sweet touch: premium Ecuadorian chocolate that serves as a ‘catalyst for change’, Barry Callabaut’s 100% wholefruit chocolate, and Tangerine Confectionery’s nostalgic sweets.
Image: GettyImages/BrianAJackson
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) has teamed with FairChain Foundation to develop a new chocolate offering: The Other Bar.
Made from a high concentration of Ecuadorian cocoa, the £2.99 pack of chocolate – which contains two bars, either in milk or dark chocolate – also includes a digital token. The consumer has the choice to donate back to the grower, using the FairChain Foundation-developed token.
"Instead of leaving behind just 7% of the value like most bars, we leave behind 50%. We call that 50=50. We pay our farmers 2X the industry average, but more importantly we shift value-added activities to the country of origin,” noted the brand.
“Our experiment with UNDP is giving consumers the opportunity to send that message to the big chocolate operators,” said FairChain Foundation founder Guido van Stavaren. “If this experiment is a success, then it will confirm that consumers want a higher percentage of the profits to go back to the cocoa communities, which should surely push those chocolate brands to mobilise that trade practice.”
Image source: The Other Bar
UK supermarket retailer Waitrose & Partners has launched a premium range under its own-label No.1 branding, with approximately 200 new products.
The range, which includes a Coconut, Passionfruit & White Chocolate layer cake, and a ‘Nduja & Burrata Sourdough Pizza, will be packaged in widely recyclable ‘premium’ packaging – some which will feature gold foil.
“Waitrose & Partners No.1 has been created by passionate experts to exhibit the exceptional products that Waitrose & Partners has to offer,” said head of design Ashleigh Vinall. “We are offering our customers products that are distinctly different from our core offering which is reflected in the new design which will stand out on the shelf.”
All grapes will change from plastic to cardboard trays, as will the line’s red choice tomatoes. “We are committed to reducing the amount of plastic that we use for our products. All of our No.1 range ready meals have been removed from black plastic and will move into 100% recyclable gold foil trays,” noted the retailer’s packaging manager, Karen Graley.
“We are really proud of this as it helps us move even closer to all of our own brand products being out of black plastic by the end of the year.”
Image source: Waitrose & Partners
Chocolate manufacturer Barry Callebaut has announced plans to launch its WholeFruit Chocolate just over six-months from now, in May 2020.
Rather than use just 30% of the cacao fruit, as in convention in traditional chocolate making, this latest product also uses its nutrient-dense peel and fruity pulp juice as a natural sweetener.
Speaking to FoodNavigator’s sister site, ConfectioneryNews, Barry Callebaut’s chief innovation, sustainability and quality officer, Pablo Perversi, said the product is a ‘whole fruit experience’.
“As a clean label product it all comes from the cacao fruit…the great thing about it is that we have managed to unravel a lot of value for the cacao fruit experience, because you are talking about products that go into ice cream, beverages, into bakery, and obviously, at the heart of our company is the chocolate.”
The product will be available for chefs and artisans in two variants: ‘bold and smooth’ and ‘wholefruit velvety’.
Image source: Barry Callebaut
US brand F’real has expanded its range of self-serve cold drinks to include two frozen fruit smoothies for the UK market: Strawberry & Banana and Mango & Passionfruit.
The frozen beverages contain no artificial colours or flavours and contain less than 270 calories per serve.
Unlike fruit smoothies found in the freezer or refrigerated section of the supermarket, F’real’s drinks are available from self-serve touch screen vending machines. The frozen cup is mixed by the machine in 60 seconds.
The smoothie sector is booming, according to F’real EME, Rich Products. “Our new extra thick Strawberry & Banana and Mango & Passionfruit smoothies offer operators an opportunity to tap into this and appeal to even more consumers who are looking for beverages that tick the boxes for convenience, health and authenticity.
“In addition to the new smoothie flavours, the expanded range will also include a coffee frappe within the blended beverage options.”
The smoothies join F’real’s existing range of ice-cream based milkshakes, which includes flavours such as vanilla, strawberry, chocolate, and cookies & cream.
Image source: F'real
Tangerine Confectionery is bringing two new products to the supermarket shelf: the Barratt Strawberry Sherbet Fountain and Barratt Wham Softies.
The Sherbet Fountain is a new variation on the liquorice retro classic – which has been sold by Barratt since 1925 – and features a strawberry flavoured dipping stick.
“I’ve worked closely with the team to develop a stick with the perfect strawberry note that was compatible with the sherbet filling, and I firmly believe the new product will be a hit with Sherbet lovers old and new,” said Barratt consultant Roget Pigott.
The sour Wham Softies will include green and yellow crystals, and Barratt says the product is lower in sugar than ‘leading competitors’.
“Both new launches perfectly tap into the well-documented ‘kidulting’ trend – where adults enjoy embracing their inner-child with the sweets they remember from their youth and then creating new memories with their children,” said Tangerine Confectionery’s marketing and category director, Russell Tanner.
Image source: Barratt
