The company says it has developed a natural approach which allows it to extract the pulp and use it in chocolate with no compromise on taste, texture and quality.

The cocoa fruit contains cocoa beans and cocoa pulp which surrounds the beans, and is soft, sweet and white in colour. Some of the pulp is used in the fermentation of the cocoa beans after they are harvested, but a significant proportion is usually removed and the value is lost. 

Traditionally, it has not been used as an ingredient to naturally sweeten chocolate.

The new chocolate from Nestlé is claimed to deliver a great tasting chocolate using only one ingredient – the cocoa fruit – with no refined sugars.

Patrice Bula, Head of Strategic Business Units, Marketing and Sales at Nestlé, said: "We’re proud to bring chocolate lovers a new chocolate made entirely from the cocoa fruit without adding refined sugar. This is a real innovation which uses the natural sweetness of the cocoa pulp to provide a pure, novel chocolate experience."

Nestlé plans to introduce the first product in Japan in the autumn of this year through its KitKat Chocolatory. Further products in other countries will follow next year.