2024 was the year when “dupes” really found their footing. Consumers around the world proudly showed off their fashion fakes and budget vacays, a reaction to changing perceptions of value and access, not to mention tightening purse strings. Consumers are even flocking to cosmetics and fragrance dupes and finding that they are as good as the real thing.

This dupe theme has infiltrated food as well. Whether you like it or not, meat, seafood, alcohol, coffee all have “dupes” now. In fact, we recently looked at the emergence of bean-free alternatives to coffee, made from a whole host of different ingredients that haven’t got anything to do with the beverage we know and crave.

Alt choc is here to stay

Chocolate is seeing a movement similar to coffee alternatives, and this week, we’re getting familiar with the emerging cocoa-free versions. Get used to them, because Valentine’s Day gifting is going to look very different in a few years…

WNWN Food Labs (now Win-Win)

Main ingredients: Carob, barley

The first company to bring cocoa-free chocolate to the market, UK-based Win-Win’s dark chocolate alternative is made from barley and carob using your standard chocolate making equipment. These raw materials are fermented and mixed with fat and sugar. Ghanaian shea butter is the fat of choice, but the company is experimenting with an algae-based fat.

The milk chocolate includes oat powder and tiger nuts, while the white chocolate is made from vegetable fats (RSPO certified sustainable palm, shea), whole and skimmed milk powder, and sunflower lecithin. 

Voyage Foods

Main ingredients: Vegetable oil blend, cane sugar, grape seeds, sunflower protein flour

This US food-tech company’s claim to fame are its nut-free nut spreads and bean-free coffee. Naturally, chocolate couldn’t be far away. This product is said to be free from the top 9 allergens as well as vegan and gluten-free.

Planet A Foods

Main ingredients: Oats, sunflower seeds, plant-based fats

This German B2B company supplies cocoa-free chocolate – called ChoViva – to manufacturers across multiple sectors, but is especially active in the bakery segment.  The product is made by fermenting and roasting the ingredients. 

Endless Food Co

Main ingredients: Brewers spent grain

Based in Copenhagen, this company’s chocolate alternative is called THIC (This Isn’t Chocolate). This proprietary patent-pending ingredient is made with upcycled brewers spent grain, a byproduct of beer production.  

Foreverland

Main ingredients: Carob

This is an Italian startup whose chocolate alternative – Choruba – is made from upcycled carob pulp, which is a byproduct of the locust bean industry. Carob was used as a chocolate alternative in the 1970s. It was quite the hot product among hippies and hardcore dieters who wanted a chocolate fix but chose to deny themselves the actual thing.

NuKoKo

Main ingredients: Fava beans

Nukoko is a UK-based company that is said to have developed the world’s first chocolate made from locally sourced fava beans. No products have been launched yet, according to the website, but there does appear to have been a limited edition launch in 2023.

Like what you’re reading?

Why is alt choc even a thing?

Because we broke the planet…

Cacao is yet another crop threatened by climate change. It is estimated that total cocoa production for 2023-24 will drop 11% versus the year-ago period. 

• Tough weather conditions have severely impacted the leading cacao producing nations, Cote d’Ivoire and Ghana, which account for 40% and 15%, respectively, of the world’s supply. 

• Diseases like black pod disease and cacao swollen chute virus infested cacao trees in 2023.

This is all putting quite a strain on the cocoa yield and pushing up prices to rather untenable levels. Cocoa prices have skyrocketed in the last few years, and cocoa futures have further doubled in just the last quarter - the steepest increase in the last five years. And make no mistake, that box of fancy chocolate you’re planning to get your Valentine this year is going to be pricey.

Also, cacao is not exactly what one could call a sustainable commodity. Dark chocolate production is second only to beef in terms of greenhouse gas emissions, and it is the top emitter amongst plant-based food sources. 

Production is also rife with environmental and ethical issues linked to sourcing, including deforestation, child labor, and wage theft from cacao farmers. There are efforts to address these issues through the upcoming EU deforestation regulations, but this will not necessarily address dropping yields. So alternatives are a necessity for the world’s favorite treat.  

Interest & investments trickle in

Voyage Foods received US$25 million from the USDA to build a factory in the US to scale up production of its cocoa-free chocolate. This new facility is expected to be able to produce 10,000 tons of the cocoa-free chocolate annually (as well other products), seen by the USDA as an important step to address the vulnerability of the global cocoa supply. 

Planet A Foods has also raised US$30 million as part of a Series B financing round to increase its production of cocoa-free chocolate – from its current 2,000 tons annually to over 15,000 tons. The company also is looking to expand its reach to more countries.

Even before these funding rounds, which happened in the last quarter of 2024, chocolate alternative startups had raised over US$110 million (as of May 2024). These alternatives could potentially be used in place of chocolate or in combination to address the end product prices that consumers will no doubt take issue with.

Want to explore more opportunities in chocolate or chocolate alternatives?

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