Since the COVID-19 pandemic, we have seen shifting trends in the chocolate confectionery industry towards cost-reduction solutions which still maintain product quality and sensory expectations.
Increased product stability during the COVID-19 crisis has now become even more essential as consumers increasingly adapt to purchasing food online – challenging the stability and durability of food and beverage products across the final leg of the supply chain. According to research conducted by AAK, 35% of shoppers said they bought chocolate online, even before the pandemic.
That figure is likely to have risen significantly in the wake of stay-at-home measures worldwide that have kept people at home for extended periods. Taste is always king in the chocolate markets which makes it essential not to cut costs at the expense of performance by using ingredients which are cheaper than cocoa butter but inferior in terms of performance.
However, AAK’s Illexao range of super compounds offer both a premium sensory experience and lower raw material overheads combined with the advantage of being clean label. Illexao is a range of fats suitable for creating a “super compound” that can replace up to 100% of the free cocoa butter in a chocolate recipe. The super compound delivers equivalent taste, texture and meltdown properties and a similar nutritional profile. It is fully compatible with cocoa butter, allowing chocolate manufacturers to use it in their products to reduce costs while adding cocoa mass to their formulations.