Ruby Chocolate: a real gift from nature
We’ve all pretty much all heard, seen or even tasted pink chocolate by now. Not white with pink pigment. Natural pink chocolate. But what do we really know about it? Well, the new pink chocolate was named ruby because of its colour and was first introduced in September 2017 at a presentation in Shanghai. Since then, it has undoubtedly caught the eyes of the consumer and scientific community. Ruby chocolate is the creation of the Belgian-Swiss company Barry Callebaut. It is characterised by its natural pink colour and is the fourth type of chocolate. The other three are dark chocolate, milk chocolate and white chocolate, in order of appearance to the public. It is noteworthy that milk chocolate has been in circulation since 1875, while white chocolate has been in circulation since 1936. So it was almost 80 years before a new type of chocolate was introduced.
Is ruby real chocolate?
The ingredients of ruby chocolate include cocoa mass, cocoa butter, milk powder and sugar, among others. So judging by its ingredients, since it is a cocoa product like the others, yes ruby is real chocolate.
Is ruby natural chocolate?
Ruby chocolate is as natural as all other chocolates. It is made using cocoa beans, sugar, a little milk powder and a little extra cocoa butter. The only difference is that the result is pink.
The cocoa beans used to make the chocolate have a natural red-pink colour and are also called ruby cocoa beans. It is not actually a new type of cocoa, nor is it genetically modified, according to Barry Callebaut. These beans come from Brazil, Ecuador and the Ivory Coast. Of course, the company has shrouded the creation of ruby chocolate in a veil of mystery as a company secret. However, it says that the pink colour is not the result of genetic modification or additives, but has everything to do with the handling and processing of the ruby cocoa beans after harvesting.
How does ruby chocolate get pink?
To understand how the pink color in ruby comes about, we first need to quickly explain the first steps of the chocolate production process. The cocoa beans have a strong bitter taste and must first undergo some sort of fermentation for 5-10 days to acquire their flavor. After the fermentation process, which gives the dark colour, the beans are dried, cleaned and roasted. The shell is removed and the inside is ground to produce cacao paste. On heating, the cocoa mass is liquefied and the liquid chocolate, which consists of cocoa solids and cocoa butter, is obtained. The liquid chocolate can now be further processed.
This is where Barry Callebaut has modified the process to produce a cocoa product with a final pink colour. Although as mentioned above, the process is a company secret, it is known that Barry Callebaut had applied in 2009 to patent a process for a “cocoa derivative product” from unfermented cocoa beans (or fermented for less than 3 days). This product turns red or purple after treatment with an acid, such as citric acid, and removal of the fat with petroleum ether. Therefore, all that has happened is a different treatment in the production of the raw material, which gives it a pink rather than brown colour. So therefore, since the raw material is pink, the final product, ruby chocolate, is also pink in colour.
What does ruby chocolate taste like?
Ruby has a characteristically more fruity taste than other types of chocolate. It is less sweet and more tart, with notes of raspberry and lemon. Of course, the company itself promotes that the chocolate contains no berries, berry flavor or coloring. To describe its taste, the company presents its characteristics via the wheel below.
The launch of ruby chocolate on the market
The first launch of a product with ruby chocolate was made by Nestlé and the KitKat brand. Nestlé had acquired a 6-month launch exclusivity in early 2018. KitKat ruby was first launched in Japan, the country with the most popularity and variety of KitKat flavours, with around 300 different options, permanent or limited edition. It was then released in Europe from mid-2018 and in the Americas from early 2019. At the same time, the Belgian company gradually made ruby chocolate available to gastronomy professionals, mainly in Europe. Now, ruby chocolate has entered more into our lives and can be found in more products, such as bars, confectionery products, ice creams, chocolate drinks, etc.
