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I don't think it is necessarily "romantic pontificating". They've effectively found (or more likely "refound" given there were probably indigenous recipes like

I don't think it is necessarily "romantic pontificating". They've effectively found (or more likely "refound" given there were probably indigenous recipes like this for centuries) that you can "cider" the chocolate fruit and like apple cidering the most effective (industrial) application of this process will be close to the source of the fruit rather than at an industrial junction of commerce such as Switzerland with access to shipments of both cheap industrial sugar and expensively labored cocoa beans. Even if the cocoa fruit sugars are more expensive in the markets of Switzerland than other sugars, the cheapest source of sugar at the cocoa plantation itself is still going to be the "leftover"/"waste" fruit. If the recipe these Swiss scientists have come up with is good enough, producers could start to build "whole chocolate" directly near the plantations and better compete in that market directly rather than in the cocoa bean "ingredient" market. That would lower the price of chocolate (more suppliers, shorter supply chains with fewer middlemen). If there's "romantic pontification" in the article it's as much or more the multiple reassurances that Swiss chocolate would remain relevantly competitive (and not just an expensive reminder of a bygone era) to such a massive increase of suppliers with access to existing "waste" products, should it happen. ETA: And/or such a process might open up a much larger market for shipping the whole fruit, not just the beans, and moving the expensive labor parts closer to the industrial hubs. That would also obviously alleviate labor problems at the edges (plantations), incentivize reducing/eliminating labor with industrial tools that wasn't as incentivized before, and might also bring production costs down overall (for cheaper, more sustainable chocolate).

Majromax 2y ago
> Even if the cocoa fruit sugars are more expensive in the markets of Switzerland than other sugars, the cheapest source of sugar at the cocoa plantation itself is still going to be the "leftover"/"waste" fruit. Not necessarily. Chocolate abhors moisture, so sugars derived from the fruit and pulp will need to be extensively dehydrated. Over some range of energy and capital costs versus refined sugar cost, it may still be more expensive to have "whole fruit" processing on-site than to import refined sugar for processing. > If the recipe these Swiss scientists have come up with is good enough, producers could start to build "whole chocolate" directly near the plantations and better compete in that market directly rather than in the cocoa bean "ingredient" market. Is the expense of sugar really what makes the rest of the production chain (roasting, grinding, and final processing) infeasible on-site? > And/or such a process might open up a much larger market for shipping the whole fruit, not just the beans, and moving the expensive labor parts closer to the industrial hubs. If you're contemplating shipping the whole fruit without processing, I think this would still be infeasible. The fruit is wet, which would vastly increase the shipping cost per kilogram of final chocolate. Shipping the raw fruit might also require a cold chain, depending on how likely it is to ferment or spoil en-route. You can analogize this to bulk shipments of sugar, where as I understand it early-stage milling is done near the sugar cane/beet plantations to remove most of the moisture. The raw cane sugar is largely dry, and it can be cost-effectively transported to sugar refineries for further processing.
- WorldMaker 2y ago
  > Not necessarily. Chocolate abhors moisture, so sugars derived from the fruit and pulp will need to be extensively dehydrated. Right. Definitely a place in this story where most of the questions are in the specifics of the process/method implied. About the only specific we get in the article is that the process seems to involve gelling (jello-ing?) the fruit pulp/rind in some way. I'm sure there are interesting twists involved that will be in the scientific literature and/or patents.

Majromax 2y ago

> Even if the cocoa fruit sugars are more expensive in the markets of Switzerland than other sugars, the cheapest source of sugar at the cocoa plantation itself is still going to be the "leftover"/"waste" fruit. Not necessarily. Chocolate abhors moisture, so sugars derived from the fruit and pulp will need to be extensively dehydrated. Over some range of energy and capital costs versus refined sugar cost, it may still be more expensive to have "whole fruit" processing on-site than to import refined sugar for processing. > If the recipe these Swiss scientists have come up with is good enough, producers could start to build "whole chocolate" directly near the plantations and better compete in that market directly rather than in the cocoa bean "ingredient" market. Is the expense of sugar really what makes the rest of the production chain (roasting, grinding, and final processing) infeasible on-site? > And/or such a process might open up a much larger market for shipping the whole fruit, not just the beans, and moving the expensive labor parts closer to the industrial hubs. If you're contemplating shipping the whole fruit without processing, I think this would still be infeasible. The fruit is wet, which would vastly increase the shipping cost per kilogram of final chocolate. Shipping the raw fruit might also require a cold chain, depending on how likely it is to ferment or spoil en-route. You can analogize this to bulk shipments of sugar, where as I understand it early-stage milling is done near the sugar cane/beet plantations to remove most of the moisture. The raw cane sugar is largely dry, and it can be cost-effectively transported to sugar refineries for further processing.

WorldMaker 2y ago
> Not necessarily. Chocolate abhors moisture, so sugars derived from the fruit and pulp will need to be extensively dehydrated. Right. Definitely a place in this story where most of the questions are in the specifics of the process/method implied. About the only specific we get in the article is that the process seems to involve gelling (jello-ing?) the fruit pulp/rind in some way. I'm sure there are interesting twists involved that will be in the scientific literature and/or patents.