Beer and wine brands jump on the Cacaofruit bandwagon

Upcoming drinks in the beverages segment are beers and another one to watch for 2024 is the cacaofruit fruit wine made from 100% pure cacaofruit, according to global cacaofruit expert Cabosse Naturals, who introduced a next-generation food and drink category in 2019. The company also said fermented beverages will be a significant innovation segment in 2024.

Its range of 100% pure cacaofruit ingredients, that are ‘good for me’, good for the planet and its communities is appealing to consumers as the world's most discarded fruit gets traction across the globe. Supermarket Whole Foods unveiled its top 10 anticipated Food Trends for 2024 and added the whole cacao as a prominent trend, because the different parts of the cacaofruit, such as peel, pulp and juice, allows brands to create products with a unique and new flavour and taste.

Cabosse Naturals is a subsidiary of Barry Callebaut, and its yearly global research revealed that consumers are more concerned about the environment and their health and seek more natural products and ingredients. Almost 7 out of 10 (65%) consumers prefer products that minimize waste and use upcycled ingredients.

Good for me, good for the planet

The demand for tasty, good for me, and good for the planet products has grown significantly in recent years, and beers and wine are definitely  part of cacaofruit trend. Compared to 2022, there’s an increase from both non-alcoholic drinks by 30% and alcoholic beverages by 70%. William Angleys, Cabosse Naturals' Sales Director, said: “Pioneering brands have discovered the upcycled fruit. That’s why when looking at our pipeline and the trend reports, we expect for 2024 that the growth will continue and further grow by 135%.”

Launches in 2023, include a non-alcoholic beer Cacao IPA, from Athletic Brewery (United States); the Cacoboa Wine and Pulpoca (seltzer) from Pulpa Mulpa (Switzerland); Kehrwieder Brewery (Germany) has an alcoholic beer It’s All Good Imperial Latin Gose, and a non alcoholic Alsternative; the Acan’s Mallow Tree, a cacaofruit sour ale, from North Antwerp Brewery (Belgium); the Talking Heads, a cacaofruit sour, from Frontaal Brewery x Friandries Chocolates (Belgium); and a cacaofruit Sour Ale Melting Pod, from Coedo Brewery and Dandelion Chocolate (Japan).