ruby chocolate

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2018}}{{Infobox prepared food

| name = Ruby chocolate

| image = Ruby Chocolate.jpg

| image_size = 250px

| caption = An 80-gram bar of ruby chocolate

| alternate_name =

| country = Belgium

| region =

| creator = Barry Callebaut

| type = Chocolate

| served =

| main_ingredient = {{plainlist|

Cocoa butter
Cocoa mass
Milk
Sugar
Citric acid[https://www.barry-callebaut.com/fr-CH/manufacturers/how-ruby-chocolate-is-made How ruby chocolate is made] barry-callebaut.com

}}

| minor_ingredient =

| variations =

| calories =

| other =

}}

Ruby chocolate is a style or distinct variety of chocolate 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.{{cite news|author=Sarah Young|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/swiss-scientists-ruby-chocolate-new-flavour-barry-callebaut-a7930046.html|title=Scientists just invented a brand new flavour of chocolate|date=5 September 2017|newspaper=The Independent|access-date=13 September 2017}}{{cite news|last1=Gordon|first1=Clay|title=And RUBY Makes Four – A New Flavor and Color Join the Chocolate Family|url=https://www.themaven.net/thechocolatelife/news/and-ruby-makes-four-a-new-flavor-and-color-joins-the-chocolate-family-9E0qKqT9rEm7PduwTDT0Mw-9E0qKqT9rEm7PduwTDT0Mw?full=1|access-date=3 January 2018|work=TheChocolateLife|date=6 September 2017}}{{cite news|last1=Gandy|first1=Max|title=Ruby Chocolate: Where to Buy It & What It Is|url=https://damecacao.com/tasting-ruby-chocolate-where-to-buy/|access-date=4 April 2018|work=Dame Cacao|date=19 March 2018}} It has a pink color, and while Barry Callebaut says it is a fourth natural type of chocolate (in addition to dark, milk, and white chocolate varieties),{{cite press release|url=https://www.barry-callebaut.com/news/2017/09/barry-callebaut-reveals-fourth-type-chocolate-ruby|title=Barry Callebaut reveals the fourth type in chocolate: Ruby|date=5 September 2017|work=www.barry-callebaut.com|access-date=13 September 2017}}{{cite web|url=https://www.ft.com/content/dc395550-923c-11e7-bdfa-eda243196c2c|title=Swiss confectioners devise fourth chocolate type: ruby|work=Financial Times|access-date=17 September 2017|url-access=subscription }} 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 in the United States in 2019, ruby chocolate is defined as:

{{Blockquote|text=The solid or semiplastic food prepared by mixing and grinding cacao fat with one or more of the cacao ingredients (namely, chocolate liquor, breakfast cocoa, cocoa and lowfat cocoa), citric acid, one or more of optional dairy ingredients, and one or more optional nutritive carbohydrate sweeteners.}}

It must also contain a minimum of 1.5% nonfat cacao solids and a minimum of 20% by weight of cacao fat.{{Cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/lanabandoim/2019/11/25/ruby-chocolate-is-coming-fda-issues-temporary-permit/#389871265c4f|title=Ruby Chocolate Is Coming: FDA Issues Temporary Permit|last=Bandoim|first=Lana|date=25 November 2019|website=Forbes|access-date=7 March 2020}} 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). [http://downloads.regulations.gov/FDA-2019-N-4844-0001/content.htm 'Ruby Chocolate' Deviating From Identity Standard; Temporary Permit for Market Testing]" [Docket No. FDA–2019–N–4844]. Food and Drug Administration.

File:Chocolat Ruby.jpg

The chocolate is made from "ruby cocoa beans".{{cite news|last=Gilchrist|first=Karen|url=https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/06/swiss-confectioner-barry-callebaut-invents-ruby-chocolate.html|title=Swiss confectioners invent a new kind of chocolate for the first time in 80 years|date=6 September 2017|access-date=13 September 2017|publisher=CNBC|website=cnbc.com}} 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, publications note industry speculation is that ruby chocolate is made with unfermented cocoa beans of Brazil Lavados, which can have a natural red-pink colour.{{cite news|last1=Churchill|first1=Francis|url=https://www.cips.org/supply-management/news/2017/october/cocoa-giant-makes-ruby-chocolate/|title='Ruby' chocolate aims to satisfy new consumer tastes|date=20 October 2017|work=Supply Management|access-date=3 January 2018|publisher=Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply|language=EN-GB|archive-date=16 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210116185652/https://www.cips.org/supply-management/news/2017/october/cocoa-giant-makes-ruby-chocolate/|url-status=dead}}{{cite news|last1=Nieburg|first1=Oliver|title=Ruby chocolate: New gem in confectionery crown or pink misfit?|url=https://www.confectionerynews.com/Article/2017/09/15/Ruby-chocolate-New-gem-in-confectionery-crown-or-pink-misfit|access-date=3 January 2018|work=Confectionery News|publisher=William Reed Business Media Ltd|date=14 September 2017}}{{cite news|last1=Jay|first1=Janan|title=New ruby chocolate isn't special and probably tastes bad, says NZ expert|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/food-wine/food-news/96786751/new-ruby-chocolate-isnt-special-and-probably-tastes-bad-says-nz-expert|access-date=13 September 2017|work=Stuff.co.nz|publisher=Fairfax New Zealand Ltd|date=13 September 2017}} 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 or probably with Carbon dioxide.{{cite patent

|country = EP

|number = 2237677

|status = patent

|title = Process for producing cocoa-derived material

|fdate = 13 October 2010

|gdate= 2012-06-13

|invent1 = Dumarche Arnaud

|invent2 = Troplin Philippe

|invent3 = Bernaert Herwig

|invent4 = Lechevalier Paul, Beerens Herve, Landuyt Alex

|assign1 = Barry Callebaut AG

}}

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.{{Cite journal |last=Corstjens |first=Marcel |date=2019 |title=The promise of targeted innovation |journal=MIT Sloan Management Review |volume=60 |pages=39}} Chocolate expert Clay Gordon stated that ruby chocolate could become as diverse as white chocolate.Oliver Nieburg (14 September 2017). [https://www.confectionerynews.com/Article/2017/09/15/Ruby-chocolate-New-gem-in-confectionery-crown-or-pink-misfit "Ruby chocolate: New gem in confectionery crown or pink misfit?"], www.confectionerynews.com. [“It's possible that in 20-30 years ruby chocolate will be just as diverse as white chocolate is today.”] 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."{{cite news |last1=Pickering |first1=Jasper |date=12 October 2017 |title=A chocolate expert explains what Ruby chocolate is and what it tastes like |url=https://www.businessinsider.com/what-ruby-chocolate-tastes-like-according-to-an-expert-2017-10 |access-date=12 August 2019 |work=Business Insider}} 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, a phenomenon that is referred to as "millennial pink".Bideaux, K. (2018). Millennial pink: From iPhone to Rihanna. Proceedings from the Conferenza del Colore.

= 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.Kwil, I., & Podsiadły, K. (2019). Innovations in the Chocolate Manufacture as Part of Polish Confectionery Industry. Wrocław University of Economics. 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.{{cite patent|country=US|number=9107430B2|title=Process for producing red or purple cocoa-derived material|status=patent|pubdate=2015-08-18|fdate=2013-05-20|pridate=2008-01-22|gdate=2015-08-18|inventor1-last=Dumarche|inventor2-last=Troplin|inventor3-last=Bernaert|inventor4-last=Lechevalier|inventor1-first=Arnaud|inventor2-first=Philippe|inventor3-first=Herwig|inventor4-first=Paul|assign1=Barry Callebaut AG}}{{cite news |last=Ellis-Petersen |first=Hannah |date=6 September 2017 |title='Ruby' becomes first new natural colour of chocolate in over 80 years |url=https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/sep/06/ruby-chocolate-barry-callebaut-instagram-foodies |access-date=13 September 2017 |newspaper=The Guardian |via=www.theguardian.com}} In 2019, the United States Food and Drug Administration granted ruby chocolate a 15-month temporary marketing permit.

Commercial availability

File:Kit Kat Ruby.jpg

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 wafer bar in Japan and South Korea.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/09/07/business/ruby-chocolate-pink-flavor.html|title=Ruby Chocolate Wants a Place at the Table With Dark, Milk and White|date=7 September 2017|author=Jacey Fortin|newspaper=The New York Times|access-date=13 September 2017|via=www.nytimes.com}}{{cite web|url=https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-barrycallebaut-nestle/nestle-to-launch-ruby-chocolate-kitkat-in-asia-idUKKBN1F70YJ|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180119010702/https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-barrycallebaut-nestle/nestle-to-launch-ruby-chocolate-kitkat-in-asia-idUKKBN1F70YJ|url-status=dead|archive-date=19 January 2018|title=Nestle to launch ruby chocolate KitKat in Asia|date=18 January 2018|website=reuters.com |agency=Reuters}} Nestlé, 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).{{cite web|url=https://www.msn.com/en-us/foodanddrink/restaurantsandnews/nestle-is-making-a-pink-kitkat-from-ruby-chocolate/ar-AAuQm75?ocid=sf|title=Nestle is making a pink KitKat from ruby chocolate|first1=Rishi |last1=Iyengar|date=18 January 2018|work=msn.com|access-date=18 January 2018}} In April 2018, Fortnum & Mason 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 and Germany.{{cite web|url=https://news.sky.com/story/kitkat-to-release-naturally-pink-ruby-chocolate-bars-11325209|title=KitKat to release naturally pink 'ruby chocolate' bars|date=11 April 2018|newspaper=Sky News}}{{cite web|url=https://www.nestle.de/medien/news/ruby-chocolate|title=Weltneuheit für Europa: Nestlé produziert KitKat Ruby in Hamburg|date=10 April 2018}} In anticipation for Mother's Day in 2019, Kit Kat Canada announced the release of the ruby chocolate in Canada in a tweet.{{Cite tweet|user=KITKATca|number=1127596849093861378|title=Our moms deserve a break from the ordinary, because they always make us feel like we're anything but ordinary. #HappyMothersDaypic.twitter.com/Na3XbARYbQ|author=Kit Kat Canada|date=2019-05-12|website=@KITKATca|language=en|access-date=2019-05-24}}

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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.candyindustry.com/articles/88673-ruby-chocolate-is-now-available-in-the-us-and-canada|title=Ruby chocolate is now available in the U.S. and Canada|last=Thompson|first=Alyse|date=14 May 2019|website=Candy Industry}}
Costa Coffee released "Ruby Hot Chocolate" made from ruby cocoa in January 2020.{{Cite web|url=https://www.delish.com/uk/cocktails-drinks/a30387761/costa-pink-ruby-cocoa-hot-chocolate/|title=Costa's Ruby Cocoa Hot Chocolate Will Take Your Instagram To The Next Level|last=Lewis|first=Anna|date=3 January 2020|website=delish|access-date=7 March 2020|archive-date=10 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220210073621/https://www.delish.com/uk/cocktails-drinks/a30387761/costa-pink-ruby-cocoa-hot-chocolate/|url-status=dead}}
Häagen Dazs released a limited-edition ruby cacao ice cream in January 2020.{{Cite web|url=https://www.delish.com/food-news/a30656083/haagen-dazs-ruby-cacao-bars-pints/|title=Häagen-Dazs Has All New, Limited-Edition Ruby Cacao Ice Creams For V-Day|last=Morillo|first=Alexis|date=24 January 2020|website=delish|access-date=7 March 2020}}
Magnum released sweet cream ice cream bars dipped in a ruby chocolate in January 2020.{{Cite web|url=https://www.confectionerynews.com/Article/2020/01/10/Magnum-ice-cream-receives-a-Ruby-makeover|title=Magnum ice cream receives a Ruby makeover|last=Myers|first=Anthony|date=10 January 2020|website=Confectionery News|access-date=7 March 2020}}
Harry & David, a chocolate company based out of Medford, Oregon, sells ruby cacao truffles and a ruby cacao bar.{{Cite web|url=https://www.bustle.com/p/harry-davids-ruby-cacao-chocolate-collection-is-a-millennial-pink-valentine-dream-15907751|title=Harry & David's Ruby Cacao Chocolate Collection Is A Millennial Pink Valentine Dream|last=Peters|first=Lucia|date=29 January 2020|website=Bustle|access-date=7 March 2020}}
Starbucks offers a "Ruby Flamingo Frappuccino" as of 2020.{{Cite web|url=https://www.fm-online.at/gastronomie/kulinarik/starbucks-bringt-eine-neue-frappuccino-kreation/|title=Starbucks bringt eine neue Frappuccino-Kreation › FM Online|access-date=1 July 2020|archive-date=1 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200701104706/https://www.fm-online.at/gastronomie/kulinarik/starbucks-bringt-eine-neue-frappuccino-kreation/|url-status=dead}}

ruby chocolate

Composition

Reception

= Flavor =

Legal status

Commercial availability

See also

References

Further reading