Chocolate gets first addition to color palette in 80 years

Aly Song | Reuters | BDNRuby

A breakthrough by a Swiss chocolate maker expands the industry’s hues beyond just dark, milk and white.

Barry Callebaut AG, the world’s largest cocoa processor, has come up with the first new natural color for chocolate since Nestle started making bars of white chocolate more than 80 years ago. The Zurich-based company refers to the product with a pinkish hue and a fruity flavor as “ruby chocolate.”

The new product may help boost sales in a struggling global chocolate market that producers hope has touched bottom. As Hershey cuts 15 percent of its staff and Nestle tries to sell its U.S. chocolate business, ruby chocolate raises the possibility that next Valentine’s Day may arrive with store shelves full of naturally pink chocolate hearts. Click here to continue reading.