Ever since the controversial new ruby chocolate was unveiled at a trade show in Shanghai in September 2017, the ever-curious public has been curious about pink chocolate. China isn't exactly a chocolate-making hub. But one of the world's largest chocolatiers chose to launch its latest creation there. They then launched the first publicly available version in Japan, followed by Europe in mid-2018 and the United States in 2019.
What's all the hype, and is it justified?
What is Ruby Chocolate?
Touted as the 4th chocolate , behind white, milk, and dark chocolates, Ruby Chocolate has also been dubbed "Millennial Chocolate." Chocolate maker Barry Callebaut , the inventor of pink chocolate , named the so-called "ruby" cocoa beans as the source of its characteristic color. The ruby cocoa bean is not actually a new type of cocoa, nor is it genetically modified, at least according to Callebaut.
Most of the world's cocoa varieties have already been identified and the genetic material has been stored for preservation, so this isn't just a new "cocoa ruby" recently discovered in nature. It's just a name given to the beans used to make pink chocolate , which naturally have a pink color and a sour flavor. Could these be the same red-colored cocoa beans patented by Callebaut in 2009?
Whatever the answer, pink cocoa pods growing on a ruby cocoa tree aren't the answer. In fact, legally, Callebaut has kept consumers in the dark, speculating that pink chocolate is made from rare red cocoa . It cites trade secrets. And since Callebaut categorically states that no genetic modification of any kind is involved, this leads us to believe it has something to do with how it handles the ruby cocoa beans after harvest.
How is Ruby Chocolate made?
To answer the question "what is ruby chocolate made of," we must therefore look at both the list of ingredients in this new chocolate and the origin of its ingredients. So where does ruby chocolate come from, as its ingredients claim? Well, the so-called ruby cocoa comes from Brazil, Ecuador, and the Ivory Coast, while Callebaut hasn't been as forthcoming about the origin of the other ruby chocolate ingredients : cocoa butter, sugar, and milk powder.
So some people think it might be flavored cocoa butter or fake chocolate, just a big chocolate conspiracy designed to raise awareness of the Belgian company. But I tried this new pink chocolate , just two weeks after the January 19, 2018 release date in Japan. And I firmly believe it's the result of years of market research and a creative approach to chocolate making .
The Marketing of Pink Chocolate
The chocolate's nickname, "Millennial Chocolate," is a prudent branding choice and a not-so-subtle hint to their target market. But so far, this marketing choice hasn't worked in their favor. The long gap between the Ruby Chocolate announcement and the release of Ruby KitKats on January 19, 2018, left the public relatively uninterested. The longer intervals between releases in different countries have furthered this disinterest, including the launch of Ruby Chocolate in the United States.
Ruby Cacao Beans
Although he himself claims that the cocoa beans come from various regions—Brazil, Ecuador, and Ivory Coast—by implying that the bean is special in some way, he gives the product a unique character. This satisfies people's desire to be trendy and one-of-a-kind, reinforced by the fact that there were a limited number of Ruby KitKats available in this first batch (only 5,000 worldwide, but still available in South Korea as of May 2019).
The Pink Chocolate Bar
The Ruby KitKat is also the first pink chocolate bar I tasted, and was the only pink chocolate available on the international market for several months. I guess we'll never know how much Nestlé paid for the right to be the first distributor of a ruby chocolate product... but I'm guessing it's a lot. The introductory price of $94USD for a set of 5 ruby KitKats (+ a few free KitKats) is an indication. But even though Nestlé has exclusive distribution rights to ruby chocolate for 6 months, starting in April 2018, ruby chocolate was made available to culinary professionals in Belgium. The name of this product is Ruby RB1 , and it was quickly made available to chocolate professionals in other parts of Europe in the following months.
Their marketing approach seems to be tied to the theory of media spillover, which states that the global chocolatiers they supply with pink chocolate will promote it, and interest will grow on social media. It seems to be working, sort of.
From the beginning, Callebaut was careful to hedge its bets on when the ruby chocolate would actually hit the international market, stating it could be anywhere from 6 to 18 months. This professional chocolate range allows its team to negotiate deals with chocolatiers, produce more chocolate to meet demand, and create the much-needed hype this pink chocolate needs.
News articles based on the company's press releases gained public attention for a few days, but internet searches have slowed down over the past two years.
It's hard to get excited about a product that apparently no one has tried yet. Every "news article" is basically a press release, with the same images and information. There's been very little social media, no advertising, no talk shows, or anything like that. People are wondering what makes ruby chocolate so special?
After all, chocolate is one of the most ubiquitous treats in the world. The chocolate industry is worth billions of dollars worldwide and is often revered for its recession-proof nature. Even in the worst of times, you can always afford a chocolate bar . People will never stop wanting to eat chocolate , after all.
Why launch Pink Chocolate in Japan first?
The decision to launch ruby chocolate in Japan first might be due to Nestlé winning the bidding war, but I could also understand if Callebaut chose the American giant to launch ruby chocolate. Although made in America, the KitKats brand was invented in Japan, where its many unique flavors are revered by travelers and loved by locals. The KitKat brand has gone further in Japan than it ever has in the United States, from a fruit collection of KitKats to purple sweet potato to sake. Japanese KitKats are unlike anything you've ever seen before.
Expert opinions on Ruby Chocolate
Many chocolate industry professionals were invited to the trade show where the ruby chocolate was launched in September, but what the product still needs, even years later, is Instagram exposure. If the target market for this chocolate is millennials, then Callebaut needs a social media strategy, because chocolate experts are not impressed. In fact, we were all skeptical when it was announced that the already suspected chocolate was being released in the form of KiKats. Chocolate experts started talking about it among themselves, out loud.
Some of us then decided to do our own research by biting into some ruby chocolate . I, for one, invested in a few ruby KitKats. In keeping with the pure chocolate theme, ruby KitKats are also larger than typical KitKats. Because in Japan, specialty KitKats are a bit longer than regular KitKats. But we chocolatiers are very visual; half of us were eager to try the new pink chocolate , and the other half still think it's just marketing, even years later.
Note that the Ruby Kit Kat is different from KitKat Rubies , a Malaysian chocolate treat. Additionally, Sharon Terenzi of The Chocolate Journalist wrote another in-depth article on the ruby chocolate speculation that you can read here.
Callebaut even states on its website that only 36% of its cocoa is sustainably sourced.
What does Ruby chocolate taste like?
In short, ruby chocolate tastes similar to white chocolate, with hints of raspberry and lemon. Chocolate flavors can manifest themselves to varying degrees, depending on where you place the chocolate on your tongue and the other ingredients in a bar. In the case of the KitKat Pink Chocolate Kit, the other ingredient is the brand's signature crunchy wafer.
In the case of these early pink KitKats , to get a real chocolate taste in your mouth, you had to bite off one end of the chocolate, making sure you had smelled the bar first. I carefully cut the edge off one of the bars I had, and let the little piece melt in my mouth.
In any case, it doesn't taste like dark chocolate or milk chocolate, as dark chocolate traditionally does. Nor does it have the slight cocoa aroma of good white chocolates. In fact, I don't taste or smell any cocoa notes in the ruby chocolate. It's bright berries, in keeping with what Callebaut itself had to say about the flavor.
In the future, this pink chocolate will be difficult to melt into the bottom of a truffle or candy, as the bright flavor is something our palates are not accustomed to. However, I have no doubt that many people will try it in the years to come, and in many creative ways.
The fruity character is difficult to pair, and the sour final flavor may hit you harder on some bites than others. But I can already think of several other unique uses for this chocolate, like caramelized ruby chocolate with ruby chocolate-covered cacao beans. This could be a fun chocolate to develop a learning curve with. I'm really excited to see what they come up with next with this new chocolate .
Is Ruby Chocolate natural?
Ruby chocolate is theoretically made as naturally as any other chocolate, from cocoa beans and sugar, plus additional cocoa butter and milk powder. But it's unclear how many preservatives are in ruby chocolate itself, as it seems Callebaut has created different formulations of ruby chocolate for different uses, just as there are different percentages of white, milk, and dark chocolate. The pink chocolate used in these Japanese KitKats may well taste different from that used by artisanal chocolatiers , and again different from future formulations. However, since KitKats normally contain preservatives, I'm guessing the KitKat version does.
Why is Ruby Chocolate pink?
Ruby cocoa beans are the key ingredient in the color of ruby chocolate . One theory behind achieving this pink hue is that Callebaut bred the cocoa itself to have a pinker hue (cocoa is naturally a reddish-purple when raw). The ingredients in ruby chocolate include cocoa mass, cocoa butter, milk powder, and sugar (not in that order), so the cocoa itself must be very pink to maintain its color. Additionally, it is believed that they used fruity cocoa beans , unfermented and treated with acids, in order to maintain this bright pink color . This would make sense, since ruby chocolate ingredient lists always contain citric acid.
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