Sprüngli has launched the Grand Cru Absolu, the world’s first chocolate with only two ingredients. The Switzerland-based producer of grand cru chocolate describes the product as an “intense chocolate experience, unlike any other.” Made from Bolivian single-origin cacao beans and juice from the cacao fruit, Sprüngli has unveiled handcrafted dark chocolate truffles and elegant macarons, highlighting the indulgence of chocolate with a short ingredients list.

“The deliberate use of single-origin cacao beans gives the Grand Cru chocolate an intense and sophisticated flavor,” according to the company.

To make Grand Cru Absolu, small-scale farmers hand-pick rare cacao fruits and their beans, which boast a fruity-citrus and intense chocolate flavor. only the naturally sweet, aromatic juice from the white pulp of the cacao fruit is added. Sprüngli has united these two components to create a pure, raw chocolate experience with a fruity and intensely dark character.

Cocoa fruit has gained increasing interest for its two-fold ability to enrich indulgence foods with more fiber without adding sugar. Early this year, the Healy Group announced its micronized cocoa fiber PrimaFi Cocoa, which can replac sugar in chocolate by up to 45 percent with no negative sensory impact when used as a bulking agent.

Reducing or replacing sugar with the use of fruit and fruit juices was a highlighted theme this year at the ISM and ProSweets trade show in Cologne 2020. At the event, Barry Callebaut served up cocoa juice as a new ingredient in food and beverages.

“We don’t need to talk about the nutritional benefits. Consumers make spontaneous associations between cacao fruit and other fruits, assuming that this chocolate is of a healthier nutritional profile,” notes Bas Smit, Global Vice President Marketing at Barry Callebaut.

At the end of last year, Nestlé launched KitKats in Japan using Cacao Fruit Chocolate, which uses powdered pulp from the cocoa fruit to substitute traditional sugar.