Ruby chocolate is a variety of

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cacao seed kernels that is available as a liquid, solid, or paste, either on its own or as a flavoring agent in other foods. Cacao has been consumed in some form since at least the Olmec civ ...

introduced in 2017 by

Barry Callebaut Barry Callebaut is a Belgian-Swiss cocoa processor and chocolate manufacturer, with an average annual production of 2.3 million tonnes of cocoa & chocolate (fiscal year 2021/2022). It was created in 1996 through the merging of the Belgian ...

, a Belgian–Swiss cocoa company. In development since 2004, it was patented in 2015 by inventors Dumarche et al. and assigned to Barry Callebaut under patent number US9107430B2.Šeremet, D., Mandura, A., Vojvodić Cebin, A., Oskomić, M., Champion, E., Martinić, A., & Komes, D. (2019). Ruby chocolate–bioactive potential and sensory quality characteristics compared with dark, milk and white chocolate. ''Hrana u zdravlju i bolesti: znanstveno-stručni časopis za nutricionizam i dijetetiku'', ''8''(2), 89-96. It was unveiled at a private event in

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flowin ...

on 5 September 2017. It is marketed as the fourth type of chocolate alongside

dark Darkness, the direct opposite of lightness, is defined as a lack of illumination, an absence of visible light, or a surface that absorbs light, such as black or brown. Human vision is unable to distinguish colors in conditions of very low lu ...

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfed human infants) before they are able to digest solid food. Immune factors and immune-modula ...

, and

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White o ...

chocolate varieties and has a

pink Pink is the color of a namesake flower that is a pale tint of red. It was first used as a color name in the late 17th century. According to surveys in Europe and the United States, pink is the color most often associated with charm, politeness, ...

color.

Overview

The chocolate is characterized by a taste that has been described as slightly sweet and sour, which is comparable to that of berries, as the chocolate's main characteristic is its acidity. In a comparison of the phenolic content between varieties of chocolate, ruby chocolate was rated between milk and white chocolate. According to standards set by the

Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respon ...

in the United States ruby chocolate must contain a minimum of 1.5% nonfat cacao solids and a minimum of 20% by weight of cacao fat. It may contain antioxidants, spices, and other natural and artificial flavorings; however, these ingredients cannot mimic the flavors of chocolate, milk, butter, or a fruit, and it cannot contain additional colouring. Chocolat Ruby

The chocolate is made from "ruby

cocoa bean The cocoa bean (technically cocoa seed) or simply cocoa (), also called the cacao bean (technically cacao seed) or cacao (), is the dried and fully fermented seed of ''Theobroma cacao'', from which cocoa solids (a mixture of nonfat substance ...

s". These are existing botanical cocoa bean varieties that have been identified as having the right attributes to be processed into ruby chocolate. While the exact production method is a

trade secret Trade secrets are a type of intellectual property that includes formulas, practices, processes, designs, instruments, patterns, or compilations of information that have inherent economic value because they are not generally known or readily ...

, publications note industry speculation is that ruby chocolate is made with unfermented

s of Brazil Lavados, which can have a natural red-pink colour. Barry Callebaut registered a patent in 2009 for "cocoa-derived material" from unfermented cocoa beans (or beans fermented for no more than three days) that become red or purple after treating them with an acid, such as citric acid, and then defatting with

petroleum ether Petroleum ether is the petroleum fraction consisting of aliphatic hydrocarbons and boiling in the range 35–60 °C, and commonly used as a laboratory solvent. Despite the name, petroleum ether is not classified as an ether; the term is used ...

or probably with CO. It has been debated by chocolate experts whether ruby chocolate constitutes a new variety of chocolate or if it is a marketing strategy. Chocolate expert Clay Gordon stated that ruby chocolate could become as diverse as white chocolate. Kennedy's Confection magazine editor Angus Kennedy disputes that ruby chocolate is a new fourth variety and compared the taste to a combination of white chocolate and raspberries. The public interest of the chocolate variety has been linked to the popularity of the color pink in marketing and on social media in the

2010s File:2010s collage v21.png, From top left, clockwise: Anti-government protests called the Arab Spring arose in 2010–2011, and as a result, many governments were overthrown, including when Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi was killed; Crimea is ...

, a phenomenon that is referred to as "millennial pink".

Commercial availability

The first mass market release of a ruby chocolate product was on 19 January 2018, when it was introduced as a coating for a new

Kit Kat Kit Kat (stylised as KitKat in various countries) is a chocolate-covered wafer bar confection created by Rowntree's of York, United Kingdom, and is now produced globally by Nestlé (which acquired Rowntree's in 1988), except in the United Sta ...

wafer bar in Japan and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its eas ...

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. (; ; ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland. It is the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since ...

, the manufacturers of Kit Kat, entered into an agreement with

for exclusive use of the product for six months. Upon release in Japan, one bar cost 400 yen (USD$3.60). In April 2018,

Fortnum & Mason Fortnum & Mason (colloquially often shortened to just Fortnum's) is an upmarket department store in Piccadilly, London, with additional stores at The Royal Exchange, St Pancras railway station, Heathrow Airport in London and K11 Musea In Hong ...

launched a pure ruby chocolate bar in the United Kingdom followed by Nestlé who announced the release of the ruby chocolate Kit Kat in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

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. In anticipation for

Mother's Day Mother's Day is a celebration honoring the mother of the family or individual, as well as motherhood, maternal bonds, and the influence of mothers in society. It is celebrated on different days in many parts of the world, most commonly in th ...

in 2019, Kit Kat Canada announced the release of the ruby chocolate in Canada in a tweet. Various other confectionery companies have released ruby chocolate-based products including: * Bachmann, a confectionery based in Lucerne, released several ruby chocolate products in May 2018, including pure bars. * Chocolove released a "Ruby Chocolate" bar which has been available since 2019 or late 2018. *

Insomnia Coffee Company Insomnia Coffee Company is an Irish independent coffee chain, with headquarters in Dublin. The first store location opened in the back of a Galway bookstore in August 1997. The company has over 150 stores and over 400 self-service units in ope ...

launched "Ruby Hot Chocolate" made from the ruby cocoa bean in March 2019. *

Costa Coffee Costa Coffee is a British coffeehouse chain with headquarters in Dunstable, England. Costa Coffee was founded in London in 1971 by Sergio Costa as a wholesale operation supplying roasted coffee to caterers and specialist Italian coffee shops. I ...

released "Ruby Hot Chocolate" made from ruby cocoa in January 2020. * Häagen Dazs released a limited-edition ruby cacao ice cream in January 2020. * Magnum released sweet cream ice cream bars dipped in a ruby chocolate in January 2020. *

Harry & David Harry and David, LLC (Harry and David) is an American-based premium food and gift producer and retailer. The company sells its products through direct mail, online and in retail stores nationwide, and operates the brands Harry & David, Wolferman' ...

, a chocolate company based out of

Medford, Oregon Medford is a city in and the county seat of Jackson County, Oregon, in the United States. As of the 2020 United States Census on April 1, 2020, the city had a total population of 85,824 and a metropolitan area population of 223,259, making the M ...

, sells ruby cacao truffles and a ruby cacao bar. * Starbucks offers a "Ruby Flamingo

Frappuccino Frappuccino is a line of blended iced coffee drinks sold by Starbucks. It consists of coffee or crème base, blended with ice and ingredients such as flavored syrups and usually topped with whipped cream and or spices. Frappuccinos are also sold ...

" as of 2020. *Francestle Chocolatier, a chocolate manufacturer based in Malaysia released a Ruby Chocolate bar. in box packaging

References

External links

{{chocolate Chocolate Types of chocolate Fortnum & Mason Food and drink introduced in 2017