Spanish ingredients producer Natra has revealed a new granulated chocolate product that will form a ‘new generation’ of powdered chocolate for the industry.
Specialising in manufacturing and delivering cocoa-and chocolate-derived products, the company developed a new ingredient as a solution for producers who wish to use a chocolate powder that retained key features and tastes of whole chocolate.
Jose Luis Villasante, the industry chief sales officer at Natra, said that the new granulated powder gives higher stability, and is easier to handle on industrial scales than other powdered chocolate ingredients.
He said: “It is really resistant to heat. Our granulated chocolate powder can undergo processes at much higher temperatures than a normal chocolate powder”.
He added that it offers a much greater range of industrial and “offers advantages in industrial processes” because the powder is stable at room temperature and does not melt at the temperature of traditional chocolates.
Villasante also said that, while the company already is selling a chocolate powder, the current product does not fit the much desired idea of all industry applications especially in terms of a ‘real chocolate taste’.
He added: “In this new generation of chocolate powder, we use a full, whole, chocolate that has all the flavour of real chocolate. It’s really a chocolate that has all the fat and the ingredients that a normal chocolate has.
“There are many products that are just a mix of cocoa powder, sugar, lecithin, and other ingredients – they are not really a chocolate. They do not have the same ingredients and form of chocolate that you would find in a bar of chocolate”.
Carmen Martinez, from Natra, said: “The difference is the texture”.
She explained that the mouth feel, texture and the taste is ‘totally different’ compared to other powdered products on the market because their product is granulated.
Martinez added that the ‘crunchy’ taste of the granulated chocolate also provides a key difference against existing products – noting that the granulated nature of the ingredient makes it ideal for use in ice cream and certain dairy applications.
Villasante said Natra is working with its customers to test potential applications for the product, including uses in cereals, biscuits, and bakery products.
He said: “The fact that it’s much easier to handle, because of the texture and also because it is much more resistant to heat, means it has potential in many areas of the industry”.
He also said that many of the customers are already expressing an interest in the product and are starting research about how to best utilise the ingredient in current and new products.