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PLANT-BASED CHOCOLATE:
FROM NICHE TO FOOD REVOLUTION

Plant-based is one of the fastest-growing segments in the food industry. Consumers feel the need to change! 

As we are further expanding the Belcolade Plant-Based portfolio, we are excited to share our latest insights in this booming area.

  1. Belcolade
  2. News & events
  3. Plant-based chocolate: from niche to food revolution
Plant-based chocolate: from niche to food revolution

Corporate
Belgian quality

Today consumers make choices that are both good for them and sustainable for the planet. They associate plant-based with health, but also more and more with sustainability, making plant-based alternatives – the food of their choice. 

According to the research conducted by Spoonshot for Puratos, health, sustainability and animal welfare are the key drivers of the plant-based trend. Online conversations on sustainability in the context of plant-based have grown at twice the rate (+37.5%) of plant-based & health (+15.8%) in the last 12 months, making sustainability an important topic to consider.

Particularly in the chocolate category, plant-based is booming as we expect that the average growth of plant-based chocolate market is 3x higher than global chocolate market worldwide in the coming years. Our Taste Tomorrow study on consumers consumption trends in bakery, patisserie and chocolate sectors highlight that chocolate is the 1st conversational topic on social media when it comes to plant-based products.

Filling a long-standing gap in the Plant-Based Chocolate category

Yet, there is a very clear gap in the plant-based chocolate market due to the lack of diversity of Plant-Based chocolate offering not in line with conventional chocolate colour proportions. “We know the chocolate sector is still driven by many millions of milk and white chocolate lovers, whose expectations weren’t being adequately met when they looked for plant-based alternatives”, states Youri Dumont, SBU chocolate director at Puratos. 
Indeed, 1/3 consumers globally would not consider buying 100% plant-Based alternatives because of poor taste and texture.

How can professional patissiers & chocolatiers bring variety to their chocolate-based creations?

With the unique innovation Selection W. Plant-Based Cacao-Trace, Belcolade offers chocolatiers, pâtissiers and other professional chocolate users more choice than ever before as it further expands the plant-based portfolio, following the recent launch of its widely acclaimed milk-alike counterpart. As a result, Belcolade now offers its customers a comprehensive plant-based chocolate portfolio – dark, milk-alike and white – all of which carry the reassurance of Cacao-Trace certification.
 
The Plant-Based White Couverture is a first-of-its-kind for the global professional chocolate industry as it boasts an outstanding taste profile and rich, creamy texture. It also has the perfect “snap” that consumers love, along with a great shine and color. Differentiating itself even further, it is free of coconut, as well as nuts, soy and gluten – allergens typically found in other plant-based white options.
 
“Our latest innovation is the result of a close collaboration between industry professionals and Belcolade chocolate experts,” states Youri Dumont, SBU chocolate director at Puratos. “Creating this unique innovation took more than 50 ingredients in various combinations. Belcolade’s Plant-Based White Couverture boasts distinctively versatile properties and so can be formed into truly delicious, creative products without compromising on texture, appearance, or quality. Offering customers more choice than ever, it is suitable for pralines, hollow figures, tablets, coatings, mousses, ganaches, dipping and flavouring.”

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