Elsewhere, Mars is trying to get to the literal root of the problem by improving the resilience of the all-important cocoa plant. The food giant is working with the USDA and UC Davis to genome sequence pathogens of diseases that wreak havoc on crop yields, including black pod disease. He hopes that by understanding the problems at a micro level, he can select resilient cocoa trees and completely eliminate the region's supply problems.
Nag points to other areas of development, focusing on improving the quality of new solutions. In particular, she suggests that Pascalization may be promising.
“Pascalization [also referred to as high-pressure processing—HPP] This involves applying high levels of hydrostatic pressure to cocoa products to stabilize the cocoa particles and prevent separation of the cocoa powder,” she explains.
“This technology preserves flavor and nutrients, extends shelf life, modifies texture, and ensures food safety in cocoa and chocolate products without relying on heat or chemical preservatives. Although this method is still under research, it shows potential for enhancing the texture of chocolate products, especially in alternative formulations.
Despite increasing competition, Mishra is confident of full pod capacity. However, their team is not the first to consider it, and Nestlé and Lindt & Sprüngli have both made tentative forays into similar markets with varying degrees of success.
After launching its full-cocoa product Incoa in 2019, Nestlé quietly withdrew it from the market in 2023 after receiving a disappointing reception from select European markets. The chocolate did not use endocarp, and skipped the gel-making step, but promised similar positive results for farmers. Elsewhere, Lindt & Sprüngli clearly saw more appetite in 2021 following the launch of its Cocoa Pure product; This limited edition continues to offer 100 percent cocoa bars, also in partnership with Koa – but using only the pulp.
The spirit of the industry seems to be open to new ideas, but will the public embrace this new chocolate, and will ETH Zurich's unique chocolate recipe ever make it out of the lab?
“If I didn't have a day job, I would probably start a company,” says Mishra. “But the real milestone for implementation that has to be achieved is creating a prototype of a product for a chocolate company. Have to take the risk of – a real product, not a product created by scientists. We scientists are generally really bad at making delicious dishes. I think change will start to happen as soon as a big chocolate manufacturer thinks this is the right path to go down.