Belgian company launches pink chocolate

13/09/2017

If there is one thing that Belgium is famous for abroad then it is certainly the typical Belgian chocolate: dark, white or milk chocolate. However, these flavours have now been joined by a fourth variety: pink chocolate also known as ruby chocolate. On September 5th its producer Barry Callebaut from Wieze (East Flanders) presented this new product at a trade fair in the Chinese city of Shanghai.

What makes ruby chocolate so special is that the colour is natural, containing no colourants or other additives. In fact, the chocolate is made from ruby cocoa beans from the Ivory Coast, Ecuador and Brazil. These beans are used to extract red cocoa powder, which in turn gives its unique colour to this new delicacy. The flavour is also said to be quite different from the chocolate we are used to. It is not bitter, milky or sweet, but rather fruity, with a berry flavour, and a creamy texture.

The chocolate factory in Wieze is the largest in the world and Barry Callebaut claims to have been working on this new product for 13 years. The launch of this ruby chocolate takes place 80 years after the Swiss firm Nestlé introduced the market to white chocolate. Barry Callebaut intends using the chocolate in a variety of products, but has not yet confirmed when these will be available for purchase.