The technology company Bühler AG has announced the companies Foreverland, Green Spot Technologies and Kawa Project as the winners of the New Chocolate Challenge, an innovation program designed to catalyze the development and industrialization of cocoa-alternative ingredients.  

The Challenge focused on three complementary innovation routes: plant-based or upcycled side-streams to deliver chocolate-like flavors and textures; biomass or precision fermentation to produce essential chocolate compounds, such as flavors and lipids; and cell culture approaches leveraging cocoa cells directly.

Bühler’s New Chocolate Challenge was designed and executed to provide solutions to these challenges by bringing visibility and commercial viability to alternatives developed by start-ups working in the chocolate space. Following a rigorous selection process conducted by Bühler chocolate and innovation experts, along with participants from partner companies in the chocolate industry, three submissions were selected as winners. They are as follows: Foreverland Technologies for their ingredients crafted from climate-resilient crops; Green Spot Technologies for their plant-based fermentation process that uses upcycled grape skins and fava bean fibers to create cocoa alternatives; and Kawa Project for their proprietary process that created cocoa alternatives from upcycled coffee grounds.

The announcement took place at a tasting event in Chicago, IL, where guests sampled chocolate creations made with the finalists’ alternative ingredients. According to Bühler, the New Chocolate Challenge provided a structured pathway for innovators to develop and validate alternative chocolate ingredients – collectively termed “New Chocolate” – that can reduce pressure on conventional cocoa while enabling great taste and texture.