Norderstedt, December 2022 – At BIOFACH 2023, exhibitor HERZA Schokolade is focusing on three topics: organic vegan, natural sweetness, and food pairing. With its three trending organic product lines, this specialist in small chocolate pieces provides creative variety for muesli, snacks, ice cream, and baked goods. Trade fair visitors can find out about them at the HERZA booth (9-435d). 

Organic vegan alternatives to milk and white chocolate

The demand for organic vegan alternatives to milk and white chocolate pieces continues to grow. The big challenge is to get the familiar creamy and milky flavour, and that is exactly what HERZA has done with its new products. These organic vegan alternatives to milk chocolate are based on sunflower protein and come in flavour combinations with amaranth or salty caramel, and as Double Chips with a brown coating around a white core. HERZA uses oat flour as the basis for its organic vegan white chocolate alternatives. The varieties of white chocolate with coffee nibs, vanilla caramel, and lemon grass matcha enable new product ideas for the booming plant-based market.

Natural sugar alternatives

Natural indulgence is more in demand than ever, as more and more consumers choose products that don’t contain white sugar, be they fitness foods like muesli or treats like ice cream, desserts, snacks, or baked goods. Consumers want alternative sweeteners, ideally from natural sources. One example is coconut flower sugar, whose malty, caramel-like notes harmonize perfectly with chocolate. HERZA proves this with its new “Inspired by nature” organic product line. This features chocolate pieces with highly varied fruit and crispy components. For example, banana flakes give creamy milk chocolate leaves a special crunch, while sour cherry powder lends dark chocolate leaves a unique, delicately tangy fruit note. A total of eight different combinations are on offer.

Another example is the new organic date chocolate, which contains just three ingredients and thus meets customer requirements for clean-label products. This dark chocolate is 50 percent cocoa and is made of cocoa mass, powdered dates, and cocoa butter. The natural date powder gives it a light fruity sweetness and consists of 100 percent dried and finely ground dates. A nutritious sugar substitute, dates are also rich in fibre. This organic date chocolate, which can be used in many different ways, is ideal for muesli, snack mixes, healthy baked goods, and children’s products. 

Food pairing: alternative flavour experiences

Food pairing is an ongoing trend in haute cuisine. This combines foods that at first glance would not seem to go together, for example, dark chocolate and kale, white chocolate and caviar, or chocolate muffins with bleu cheese. These combinations are not random. They are based on shared flavours of the paired products, as determined by scientific research, and they offer a starting point for unusual creations. HERZA has developed three different compositions for muesli, ice cream, and snack mixes – thick leaves of milk chocolate with a coffee caramel note, chopped bits of white chocolate with strawberry and lemon grass, and dark chocolate leaves with cardamom and rum – and naturally, all are organic. Visitors at BIOFACH in Nuremberg can find out more at the HERZA booth (9-435d).

About HERZA:

HERZA Schokolade GmbH & Co. in Norderstedt near Hamburg, Germany is one of the world’s leading suppliers of quality functional chocolate pieces for the food industry, and the European market leader in small chocolate pieces for mueslis. In addition, HERZA has made a name for itself as a contract manufacturer, providing development and production of functional bars. As a member of the independent, owner-operated Stern-Wywiol Gruppe with a total of twelve subsidiaries, HERZA can make use of many synergies. The company has access to the knowledge of around 150 R&D specialists and the extensive applications technology of the Group’s large Technology Center in Ahrensburg, Germany. It also benefits from shared production facilities and the Group’s own logistics resources. This lets it offer customers a high degree of flexibility and innovation capabilities.