The chocolate bar made without cocoa. Will you be buying?

The concept of a chocolate bar made without cocoa feels like an abomination, and also like an impossible invention. And yet, a brother and sister duo from Germany have created exactly that: a chocolate bar made without a single cocoa bean.

Due to a combination of climate change of pest infestation, cocoa production is falling each year. In fact, there’s a very real possibility that by 20250, 50 per cent of the world’s cocoa supply be lost entirely, a scenario that will have disastrous consequences on the chocolate business.

With that eventuality in mind, Sara and Maximilian Marquet set their minds to creating a cocoa-free alternative.

Cocoa-free chocolate tastes just like the real thing

While cocoa-seeds are the main ingredient in chocolate, the flavour we all love actually comes from the fermentation, roasting and conching process, not the bean itself. After a series of trial-and-error experiments, they ultimately found that roasted sunflower seeds worked just as well.

By carefully replicating the same techniques using sunflower seeds, the siblings were able to recreate the familiar taste, texture and satisfying snap of traditional chocolate, and thus their chocolate bar “ChoViva” was born.

Sweet-tooth sceptics might find it hard to believe that a cocoa-less chocolate bar could be a viable alternative for appeasing their cravings, but the few who have tasted “Choviva” report it being identical to the milk-chocolate we all love so much.

A more sustainable future for chocolate

Beyond solving the looming cocoa shortage, ChoViva also offers significant environmental benefits.

Traditional cocoa production relies heavily on beans grown in countries such as Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire, where around 80 per cent of the world’s cocoa is produced. These beans must then be transported thousands of miles before reaching European manufacturers, creating a sizeable carbon footprint.

By contrast, sunflower seeds can be sourced much closer to where the chocolate is produced, with regional European supply chains replacing long-distance imports. This dramatically reduces transport emissions while making production less dependent on volatile global supply chains.

Will you be trying cocoa-free chocolate?

While the thought of chocolate without cocoa may still surprise, maybe even disgust, some people, the evidence suggests the future of confectionery could be changing faster than anyone expected.

Today, ChoViva is already being supplied to food manufacturers across Europe and used in products ranging from chocolate bars to biscuits.

Will you be giving it a try?