Nestlé rolls out chocolate made exclusively with cocoa fruit

The launch brings the cocoa pulp-sweetened chocolate to a wide audience across several countries

Nestlé has announced the roll-out of chocolate made exclusively with the cocoa fruit, introducing Incoa, a 70% dark chocolate bar under its Les Recettes de L’Atelier brand.

The launch brings the cocoa pulp-sweetened chocolate to a wide audience across several countries. It will appear on shelves in retail in France and the Netherlands with other European markets to follow.

Incoa is made entirely from the cocoa fruit, not adding any refined sugar. In 2019, Nestlé was the first to announce the development of this revolutionary approach and then launch it with KitKat in Japan.

Louise Barrett, Head of the Nestlé Confectionery Product Technology Center in York, said: “We are proud to be able to develop and produce a chocolate at-scale using only the cocoa fruit. This breakthrough innovation allows us to deliver a great-tasting dark chocolate, while also integrating agricultural side-streams into our value chain, a key priority for our sustainability agenda.”

Nestlé leveraged its in-house chocolate expertise to develop a patented natural approach which allows it to extract the pulp and produce a dark chocolate that captures the pulp’s intrinsic sweetness and texture. The unique approach enables the company to produce Incoa in high quantities with no compromise on taste, texture and quality.

Nestlé is currently working with cocoa cooperatives and other partners in West Africa to test how cocoa pulp production could be commercialized there.