German supplier Herza Schokolade has launched a range of white chocolate pieces coloured with fruit and vegetable powders available in six different shades of purple that it said can provide “visual highlights” in cereal mixtures, muesli bars or ice cream.
The pieces are available as big leaves, prisms or chopped pieces but Herza can produce the purple chocolate in customised shapes.
It uses powdered elderberries, aronia berries, wild blueberries as well as beetroot, black carrots and hibiscus flower extracts to add colour to the chocolate.
These extracts also provide a nutritional boost, it said. Elderberries have high levels of provitamin A and B vitamins while ‘superfood’ aronia berries contain the minerals calcium, magnesium, potassium, zinc and iron. Black carrots, wild blueberries and hibiscus extract are rich in anthocyannins.
However, it has not analysed the vitamin content of the pieces and so is not making any health claims. The other ingredients are “typical white chocolate ingredients“, it said.
According to Herza sales director Carsten Braumann, the chocolate pieces could add a healthy indulgence halo to products.
“The purple chocolates are designed to upgrade trendy foods like superfood cereal mixes and to make healthy foods like muesli more attractive for a wider target group,” he said.
It expects most demand to come from manufacturers of cereal products such as muesli, granola and cereal bars but says they could also be used as decoration or inclusion in ice cream.
It is targeting manufacturers in Germany, the Netherlands and the UK.
Purple and pink
The purple range, which comes just one week after leading cocoa processor Barry Callebaut announced it has developed pink chocolate, derived naturally by isolating specific compounds in cocoa beans.
Claiming to have invented a fourth chocolate category after milk, dark and white, the company said it expected ruby chocolate to resonate in particular with Millennial consumers.
Herza also believes its purple chocolate will go down well with this population segment.
“[We are targeting] the health conscious consumer who is looking for new experiences and taste sensations and at the same time looks for additional nutrients supporting a healthy diet. This consumer is typically younger and hence the target audiences includes millennials,“ said Braumann.
Herza Schokolade supplies functional chocolate for the processing industry and specialises in small chocolate pieces for cereals, bakery applications and ice cream.
This year it launched ‘Paleo cocoa’ shavings made from pure organic cocoa mass and without sugar targeted at health conscious consumers.