November 1, 2021
Improve the taste of your chocolate products with cocoa enhancers
Chocolate is arguably the most popular flavor among consumers worldwide. This is, in part, because chocolate can be used in such a wide variety of food products. It is a dessert staple in a variety of sweets and snacks. It can be applied to dairy products like milk or ice cream.
Chocolate can even be used to sweeten specialty food items like plant-based vegan products and sports nutrition products, such as protein powders. Chocolate is an acceptable and beloved flavor in all walks of life, for a variety of dietary purposes.
But, while these examples emphasize the versatility of chocolate, they also emphasize that not all chocolate is the same. Chocolate is not an artificial product. It is an agricultural one, a natural substance extracted from a plant. And so, like all agricultural foods, it is subject to variety based on the condition of the plant it is grown from. There are a number of different applications for chocolate flavorings, but also a number of different possible chocolate flavorings in themselves. This is where cocoa enhancers come in handy.
Cocoa Enhancers
Cocoa enhancers are flavor producers engineered to maximize the chocolate flavoring of various different cocoa products on the market. All chocolates can have unique flavor profiles. Some are more bitter, some more floral, while others can offer a fruitier taste. Whatever the case, and whatever the product, there is an ideal chocolate flavor profile, and this profile can soar thanks to cocoa enhancers.
Suppose, for instance, you are producing a chocolate flavored protein powder, but the cocoa being used in the recipe is too bitter. Even the most serious sports nutritionists will have trouble choosing your product over others on the market if the chocolate flavoring is unsatisfying. Adding a cocoa enhancer can create a more satisfying flavor profile, tailor made for your specific cocoa powder.
Cocoa savings
The benefits of cocoa enhancers do not end with taste. Flavoring enhancers in general can be used as a minimal percentage in the formulation of a food product to save on cost. This holds true for cocoa enhancers. And, with global chocolate prices trending upward in recent years, there has never been a better time to apply cocoa enhancers to save on production costs. With the ever-increasing demand for high quality cocoa products, a greater strain is being placed on the natural cocoa harvests globally.
Around 75% of the world’s cocoa is harvested in African nations, namely Ghana and the Ivory Coast. On the other hand, North American, European, and Asian nations tend to be the top consumers of chocolate globally. Because chocolate is a global product with a limited production range, there has been a steady increase in the global cost of chocolate every year since 2017, following a more gradual trend of steady increase dating back around thirty years.
So, when it comes to quality chocolate flavor manufacturing, the role of cocoa flavor enhancers cannot be stressed enough. OSF Flavors is able to offer a spectrum of cocoa enhancers to match a wide range of chocolate flavor profiles. Using GCMS technologies, OSF is able to analyze individual cocoa powders to distinct unique flavor profiles and offer a different cocoa enhancer for each product.
This level of technological sophistication has not been available in the past. And, with cocoa being applied in a greater variety of recipes and products worldwide, chocolate extract consumption is bound to continue increasing—along with its cost. Using cocoa enhancers can help create a more standardized and satisfying chocolate experience for global consumers, while also helping to save on formulation costs.