As organic chocolate and candy score big with confectioners and consumers, the eco-farming method is branching into another industry sub-sector: fruit and veg-filled sweet treats.
A flourishing sector
Organic food, which refers to items that undergo a farming system using natural methods to cultivate crops and produce, is a booming industry. In 2022, organic food sales reached $134.76bn (€130bn), a huge climb from the nearly $18bn (€17.3bn) they amassed at the turn of the millennium. The US is the biggest revenue generator for organic food, accumulating approximately $60.8bn (€58.5bn) and accounting for 43% of global organic retail sales.
While the definition of organic agriculture varies between countries and certifiers, it typically refers to those free from genetic modifications, artificial pesticides and petroleum-based fertilisers. In 2022, there were more than 96m hectares of organic farms worldwide, with India bagging the top spot for organic farming space with 2.5m organic food producers operating in the country.
Tapping into several megatrends
According to Barry Callebaut, in the past 30 years, since brands such as UK-based chocolatier Green & Black’s honed in on organic confectionery, the market has become a €30m market in Western Europe alone. Furthermore, predictions estimate that the organic confectionery space will continue to increase its share by 3% annually. Demonstrating its firm position within confectionery, this projected growth is anticipated even in a flat industry, which is a concern with the ongoing cocoa crisis.
Organic confectionery is an increasingly popular choice for confectioners who want to appeal to the sugar reduction and environmental consciousness that has continued to grow in recent years. In response, producers have focused more on providing indulgent organic experiences through organic offerings. It has mass appeal, garnering attention from established heritage companies and smaller, independent boutique producers.
Organic confectionery touches on several big trends. Barry Callebaut’s research suggests that consumers associate organic claims with various concepts and values, making it a complex term. Manufacturers and brands can lean into these connections to highlight the benefits of organic confectionery over its non-organic counterparts.
Firstly, confectionery shoppers often link organic to fairtrade. Cocoa sourced with an organic origin is typically perceived to relate to broader sustainability and fair labour claims.
Shoppers are also on the lookout for free-from varieties that support vegan and vegetarian eating, as well as those that support food allergens and intolerances. As consumers care about foods’ ethical origin and better-quality diets, organic is often seen as a way to meet this criteria.
Better-for-you confectionery is also rising in prominence. As consumers often associate “organic” with “coming from nature”, organic confectionery is often linked to natural and healthier food, particularly as a healthier alternative to conventional confectionery.
Organic fruit-focused confectioners
● Green & Black's: UK organic chocolate brand Green&Black's was founded in 1991. Today, the startup’s organic range has expanded to include 52 products comprising hampers, gift boxes, tasting collections and their traditional bars. The brand’s Organic Ginger variety is formulated in a 90g dark chocolate bar.
● Scottish craft and organic chocolate brand Chocolate Tree uses cacao from the Peruvian jungle. Its fruit & nut variety combines Italian organic piedmont hazelnuts and raisins in a milk chocolate that contains 45% cocoa content.
● British-made chocolate brand Montezumas has a wide range of fruit-based chocolate bars, showcasing flavours such as dark chocolate & mint, dark chocolate with orange & geranium, dark chocolate with chilli, milk chocolate with chilli & lime.
● Ecuadorian organic chocolate company Paccari Chocolate produces dark chocolate-based bars featuring Latin American ingredients like Cuzco pink salt and Andean roses. Its collection also includes bitter orange, cranberry, chilli pepper, cardamom, ginger & chia, passionfruit and lemongrass varieties.
From fruit and veg to chocolate
Fruit-filled organic confectionery start-up Wild West sought to tap into the better-for-you confectionery trend. Its founder, BJ Howard, comes from an extensive organic fruit and vegetable industry background. When the organic fruit creator’s former company partnered with a small, artisanal chocolatier, this birthed the idea of developing a whole fruit-sweetened chocolate brand.
“Our goal was to create a chocolate that was alternatively sweetened, with no added sugar, that tasted like an amazing premium chocolate bar and that someone would have no idea they were eating a better-for-you chocolate,” says BJ Howard, Founder of Wild West.
The organic fruit-based confectioner wanted consumers trying their product for the first time to be impressed by the flavour experience and then be shocked to find out it was alternatively sweetened and a healthier alternative to conventional sweet treats. “To date, most fruit-sweetened confections are still ‘sugar added’ in that they extract the sugars from the fruit and add them back in during processing,” shares Howard, giving an insight into one of the leading trends behind the rise in organic fruit-based confectionery: sugar reduction.
Products often use one fruit to sweeten their formulations. Dates are a typical example. “The problem is that those products end up tasting too much like the fruit and not enough like chocolate, or you have nasty aftertastes like stevia and monk fruit,” says Howard.
Wild West has formulated its blend from five different fruits. The brand uses whole fruit and fibre. “So we are truly no added sugar,” adds Howard. Developing a fruit blend was key to achieving the formulation, as Wild West considers this the basis of an attractive flavour balance. Furthermore, the fruit blend enhances the natural cacao flavour rather than masking or overriding it.
Formulating its organic fruit-filled confectionery was a long process littered with challenges.
“If we used too much of one fruit, it would overwhelm the flavour of another or mask the cacao flavour,” says Howard. “It had to be the right balance of citrus, nutty, rich chocolatey flavours to bring forth the premium eating experience in a healthy form that didn’t compromise on the taste,” he says.
Wild West uses a proprietary method of conching ethically sourced Fair Trade Certified Cacao using dehydrated and finely ground whole fruits. It contains no added sugar, sugar alcohols or sugar substitutes.
The brand took over 18 months to develop its R&D process, producing the ideal balance of fruits for its desired sweetener blend. It experimented with which variety of cacao to use, landing on Satipo from the Amazonian region. Next came trying out different taste profiles, with Wild West landing on flavour profiles including coconut, raspberry & hazelnut and toasted oats.
Moving beyond its initial product portfolio, Wild West is now looking for more cross-category applications for its alternatively sweetened chocolates. The brand wants to expand its range into formats beyond bars. It’s currently looking at fun forms like bear claws, minis and new items like chocolate chunks for snacking and baking, trail mixes, chocolate-covered nuts and cookies.
