Planet A Foods, the German start-up that makes the cocoa-free chocolate ChoViva, has launched Cocoa Booster, a single-ingredient powder designed to replace cocoa powder in part or entirely, Green Queen reports. The company is pitching it at manufacturers squeezed by a new rise in cocoa prices and at the market for people on GLP-1 weight-loss drugs.
The timing follows the cocoa market. After record highs in 2024, prices fell through 2025 but have risen by 70 percent since February. Green Queen notes that this shock is expected to hit cocoa powder harder than cocoa butter. Chief executive Maximilian Marquart says the new ingredient can cut formulation costs by up to 50 percent, depending on how much is used and in which product.
Chief technology officer Sara Marquart, who founded the company with her brother in 2021, explained how it is made: "We start with a fermentation-inspired process, which is followed by a roasting step. Finally, it is finely milled to the particle size manufacturers are used to from cocoa powder." The taste and aroma develop through that process, with no added flavours, she said. The company is not disclosing the raw material, citing competitive reasons, but says it is sourced in the EU, which keeps it independent of West African harvests.
According to the company, the powder contains around 69 grams of fibre per 100 grams, against around 37 grams in cocoa powder, and about 50 percent less fat. It comes in natural, alkalised and dark profiles meant to match the colour and taste of the matching cocoa powders, so it can go into existing recipes for biscuits, muffins, cakes, puddings, fillings and drinks without process changes. Barry Callebaut, already a distribution partner for ChoViva, will offer it through its sales and research network.
Production is at the company's plant in Pilsen, Czech Republic, which can make 15,000 tonnes of its ingredients a year; a second plant with six times that capacity is being ramped up. The company says it is in talks with large confectionery makers in markets including India, the Middle East, the United States and the United Kingdom, and expects the first products on shelves around the first quarter of 2027.
For cocoa-growing countries the launch is another sign that manufacturers are looking for ingredients that do not depend on the harvest in Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire, where weather has cut supplies. The report was written by Anay Mridul.
Photo: blair (a bowl of cocoa powder) / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 2.0)
Source: Green Queen
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