5 concepts that lead the way in cacao upcycling

Although they’re made with cacao fruit, CaPao bites are nothing like chocolate. These snacks resemble bliss balls or energy balls and are made of cacao pulp, which is usually discarded once the beans are taken out of the fruit. CaPao combines the sweet and zesty pulp with nuts, seeds and other fruits to create Cacaofruit Bites. It promotes its snacks as a sustainable option, because the saving in CO2 emissions from upcycling cacao is the equivalent of planting 3.5 billion trees a year. 

Vosges products don’t just offer a functional aspect, but a spiritual one as well. When the chocolate cools from liquid to solid, it is infused with a 528hZ frequency that should create a transformational and healing experience, which improves physical and mental health. Vosges offers cacao elixirs that boosts energy and mood, bars with adaptogens such as spirulina and matcha that can substitute a cup of coffee, but also sets that include chocolate, crystals and meditation cards.

Soda company Kumasi is named after the capital of the cacao-producing region of Ghana. The Dutch startup upcycles the juice and pulp into a refreshing drink that honors the natural, unprocessed flavor of the fruit: a mixture of lychee, mango and white peach. By using these waste flows from the chocolate industry to make a drink, Kumasi also secures more income for farmers. Besides fighting poverty, it seeks to stimulate gender equality and help to combat deforestation.

Nestlé’s Les Recettes de L’Atelier Incoa is a 70 percent chocolate bar made with nothing but cacao, sweetened with naturally sweet pulp. Sold in stores throughout Europe, it taps into the clean-label and upcycling trends. 

“People are looking for something that little bit different and more sustainable from their chocolate,” says Nestlé’s head of confectionery, Alexander von Maillot, in a news update. “The fact that Incoa is made from the cacao fruit and nothing else means it cuts waste and brings additional value to the cocoa sector."

Blue Stripes sees cacao as a superfruit with ‘miraculous natural powers’. Its products claim to improve physical, mental and emotional balance, and even bone structure and mental focus, using the entire fruit: shell, pulp, and beans. Blue Stripes offers cacao water, 70 percent cacao trail mix, a smoothie boost, whole cacao granola and chocolate bars. Unlike the other brands in this list, these are promoted more as a wellness solution than a sustainable choice. The products should benefit everything from bone structure to focus because of the superfood qualities. 

Noons, an “afternoon delight” snack from Candid, is made with cacao seeds and pods and other fruits. Where lots of other chocolate products have long ingredient lists including sugar and emulsifiers, Noons keep these short and simple, claiming they ‘let chocolate’s inner beauty shine’. The cacao is sourced from small, independent family farms in Latin America which are paid premium prices.