Ruby chocolate is a style or distinct variety of

chocolate Chocolate is a food made from roasted and ground cocoa beans that can be a liquid, solid, or paste, either by itself or to flavoring, flavor other foods. Cocoa beans are the processed seeds of the cacao tree (''Theobroma cacao''); unprocesse ...

that is pink or purple in colour. Barry Callebaut, a Belgian–Swiss cocoa company, introduced it as a distinct product on 5 September 2017 after beginning development of their product in 2004. It has a

pink Pink is a pale tint of red, the color of the Dianthus plumarius, pink flower. 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, p ...

color, and while Barry Callebaut says it is a fourth natural type of chocolate (in addition to

dark Darkness is the condition resulting from a lack of illumination, or an absence of visible light. Human vision is unable to distinguish colors in conditions of very low luminance because the hue-sensitive photoreceptor cells on the retina are ...

milk Milk is a white liquid food produced by the mammary glands of lactating mammals. It is the primary source of nutrition for young mammals (including breastfeeding, breastfed human infants) before they are able to digestion, digest solid food. ...

, and

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

chocolate varieties), industry experts have debated whether this is true or a marketing claim.

Composition

According to a temporary marketing permit granted 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 respo ...

in the United States in 2019, ruby chocolate is defined as: It must also contain a minimum of 1.5% nonfat cacao solids and a minimum of 20% by weight of cacao fat. Under the permit, the product does not contain added colouring and although it may contain antioxidants, spices, and other natural and artificial flavorings, these ingredients cannot mimic the flavors of chocolate, milk, butter, berries, or other fruit. The FDA said the product meets "most of the current standards for cacao products", but "deviates from the current standards of identity for chocolate products in terms of its final composition, taste, and color".Schiller, L.J. (2019)
'Ruby Chocolate' Deviating From Identity Standard; Temporary Permit for Market Testing
ocket No. FDA–2019–N–4844 ''Food and Drug Administration.''
Chocolat Ruby

The chocolate is made from "ruby

cocoa bean The cocoa bean, also known as cocoa () or cacao (), is the dried and fully fermented seed of ''Theobroma cacao'', the cacao tree, from which cocoa solids (a mixture of nonfat substances) and cocoa butter (the fat) can be extracted. Cacao tree ...

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 A trade secret is a form of intellectual property (IP) comprising confidential information that is not generally known or readily ascertainable, derives economic value from its secrecy, and is protected by reasonable efforts to maintain its conf ...

, 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 filed a European patent application in 2010 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 an ether; the term is used only figurativ ...

or probably with CO. In a comparison of the phenolic content between varieties of chocolate, ruby chocolate was rated between milk and white chocolate.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.

Reception

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. Angus Kennedy disputes that ruby chocolate is a new fourth variety, saying he knew Peruvian chocolate makers who had been "producing this type of pink chocolate for years." He said purple was not an unusual color for chocolate, as cocoa beans are naturally pink and purple. The public interest of the pink chocolate variety has been linked to the popularity of the color pink in marketing and on social media in the

2010s File:2010s collage v22.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 Death of Muammar Gad ...

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

Flavor

Ruby 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. Angus Kennedy, the editor of '' Kennedy's Confection'' magazine, described the taste as a combination of white chocolate and raspberries.

Legal status

Barry Callebaut was granted a European patent in 2012 and a U.S. patent in 2015 for the way its product is produced. In 2019, the United States

granted ruby chocolate a 15-month temporary marketing permit.

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 Confectionery, confection created by Rowntree's of York, England. It is produced globally by Nestlé (which acquired Rowntree's in 1988), except in the United S ...

wafer bar in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

Nestlé Nestlé S.A. ( ) is a Swiss multinational food and drink processing conglomerate corporation headquartered in Vevey, Switzerland. It has been the largest publicly held food company in the world, measured by revenue and other metrics, since 20 ...

, the manufacturers of Kit Kat, entered into an agreement with Barry Callebaut 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 plc (colloquially often shortened to just Fortnum's) is an Luxury goods, upmarket department store in London, England. The main store is located at 181 Piccadilly in the St James's area of London, where it was established in 1707 ...

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 Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. 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 Mar ...

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: * Chocolove released a "Ruby Chocolate" bar which has been available since 2019 or late 2018. *

Costa Coffee Costa Limited, trading as Costa Coffee, is a coffeehouse chain with headquarters in Loudwater, Buckinghamshire, England, that operates in the United Kingdom and 37 other countries. Costa Coffee was founded in London in 1971 by Sergio Costa (co ...

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, 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, making it the List of cities in Oregon, eighth-most populo ...

, sells ruby cacao truffles and a ruby cacao bar. *

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational List of coffeehouse chains, chain of coffeehouses and Starbucks Reserve, roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It was founded in 1971 by Jerry Baldwin, Zev Siegl, and Gor ...

offers a "Ruby Flamingo Frappuccino" as of 2020.

Composition

Reception

Flavor

Legal status

Commercial availability

See also

References

Further reading