Supermarket Perimeter - October 2019 - 30

Bakery: Artisan chocolate

craftsmanship and skill of the baker making it." With a consumer reach
of one out of every four chocolate experiences, Barry Callebaut's
in-house research continues to see the importance of cacao percentage
among consumers even if technical understanding around the subject
is lacking, he continues. Not all artisan chocolate possesses a high
cocoa content and "high" is a relative term, Askinosie notes. High cocoa
content in a mass-marketed product is different than a craft chocolate
where many makers produce 100% bars.
Higher cocoa content offers a well-known boost of antioxidants creating a healthful, and delicious, offering. Chocolates containing at least
60% cocoa possess beneﬁts of natural ﬁber, theobromine, an alkaloid of
the cacao plant, and phenylethylamine, a beneﬁcial organic compound,
natural substances that create endorphins, according to Shelly Kremi,
director of marketing for Gurnee, Illinois-based iﬁGOURMET.
One example being Luker Chocolate's 100% Fino de Aroma Cacao.
The Colombian chocolate possesses fruity, ﬂoral, nut and malt ﬂavors.
Imported and distributed by iﬁGOURMET, the Luker Chocolate blends
Claro de Luna 37%, Misterio 58%, Macondo 60%, Sombra 54%, Palenque
70% and Luker Single Origin Chocolate Tumaco 65% are some of
iﬁGOURMET's top-selling artisan chocolate.
"More than an 'Instagram-worthy' dessert, people are looking for an
elevation of ﬂavor and something that will wow them," Kremi says.

Wider impact

Generational focus
As chocolate companies embark on bold initiatives, they are
simultaneously juggling consumer expectations that can differ
30 - OCTOBER 2019

IFIGOURMET

But it's not just about the sensory beneﬁts. Consumers are hungry to
know more about a chocolate's origin, who is generating the product
and how production ﬁts into a global economy scale. Through the
promotion of core values, fair trade and sustainability, consumers learn
to distinguish the taste and ﬂavor of a region while learning about the
people and lands where the chocolate is cultivated.
"Consumers seem hungry for socially conscious chocolate they can
feel good about enjoying, i.e. knowing where it came from," Askinosie
says. "We take great care to not only showcase our farmer partners and
tell their story on our packaging but to educate our consumers about
our sourcing and supply chain transparency."
For many companies this includes working directly with growers
to build sustainable practices and improve conditions for workers.
CasaLuker's The Chocolate Dream welcomes the dreams and initiatives
of innovators, companies, NGOs, entrepreneurs and academia to drive
long-term positive change in the cocoa-producing areas of Colombia.
Puratos, known for its Belgium chocolate, runs a sustainability program offering a dual beneﬁt of improving the impact on a farmer's life
while offering consumers superior-tasting chocolate. Sharing such stories educates the consumer while helping secure the chocolate supply
chain, a win-win, according to the company.
By 2025, Barry Callebaut is looking to make sustainable chocolate
the norm. Its Forever Chocolate initiative includes four targets. 1) lift
500,000+ cocoa farmers out of poverty, 2) eradicate child labor from its
supply chain, 3) become carbon and forest positive and 4) have sustainable ingredients in all its products.

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Supermarket Perimeter - October 2019

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