Chocolate Lovers Want Functional Benefits

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Chocolate lovers increasingly seek health-enhancing treats to indulge their sweet tooth. In fact, according to a survey recently carried out by Switzerland-based Barry Callebaut, about one in four consumers in Western Europe and the U.S. want chocolate with extra physical or emotional health benefits.

Chocolate with the scientifically proven ability to improve the sense of emotional well-being ranks highest on chocoholics’ wish lists, with 27% of them longing for chocolate with mood-enhancing qualities. A quarter of all chocolate lovers want chocolate that can help them to relax after a stressful day at work, while just over 20% of consumers are interested in chocolate that is scientifically proven to keep their heart healthy. Tooth friendly chocolate received an interest score of 19%, as 17% of consumers claimed they a desire for chocolate providing extra benefits to strengthen their immune system.

Americans eat more functional chocolate than Europeans. More than one-third of Americans (35%) has already tried chocolate with additional health benefits and 14% consume it at least once a month. Americans are closely followed by the Swiss—12% of whom eat functional chocolate regularly.

“This data show that functional chocolate is quickly gaining in popularity. Consumers are increasingly seeking chocolate that offers them clinically proven physical or emotional health benefits,” says Hans Vriens, chief innovation officer at Barry Callebaut. “The cocoa bean contains hundreds of different components that have potential health benefits. As an innovative trendsetter, Barry Callebaut harnesses and preserves the healthy components of the cocoa bean and uses them to develop chocolate with health-enhancing properties. Currently, our R&D team is working on a range of interesting new products, including a chocolate that is scientifically proven to improve emotional well-being by naturally enhancing the consumer’s mood.”


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