The start-up company Planet A Foods, based in Planegg near Munich/Germany, has launched its first product called “Nocoa” on the German market: a vegan chocolate that does not contain any cocoa at all, and which was presented in Berlin in a delicious ice cream.

Everyone is talking about sustainability, and Planet A Foods GmbH, founded in spring 2021 with owners Dr Sara Marquart and her brother Dr Max Marquart, is taking innovative paths in this regard. As a food chemist, Sara brings the necessary know-how, while her brother and other employees work on new products or are responsible for marketing and sales.

The vegan chocolate “Nocoa” developed by Planet A Foods, which does without cocoa, was presented in Berlin in a delicious Delabuu-style ice cream in rolled form. Here, the environment of the ice cream producer Delabuu was used for a pop-up sale that addresses a similar customer segment: people between 15 and 35.

Dr Sara Marquart explains: “We don’t want to demonize conventional chocolate. Our focus is on the opportunity to attract new, young customers with a sustainability agenda.” Dr Max Marquart adds: “Oatly, the oat beverage and ice cream company, is a role model. Nocoa is the next Oatly.”

Nocoa is based on the roasting and selective fermentation of oats with sugar. The roasting also provides chocolatey colour. The pro-duct, which is not allowed to call itself chocolate and does not taste as sweet as this one, can be processed as usual and is therefore interesting for quite a few chocolate processors.

By using cocoa butter equivalents – in this case mainly shea butter – the technological properties can be specifically influenced. This means that the product can be used for double biscuit fillings, but also as a coating for ice cream. In the form of small pieces, it can also enrich mueslis.

The product range is currently not primarily aimed at the end consumer, even though Nocoa is sensory appealing and one can well imagine a table product. There is not the gritty feeling in the mouth that is probably expected by many, which is also due to the fact that the melting point of the product is 1 °C lower than that of chocolate. The similarity to a classic milk chocolate is obvious.

The two founders emphasize: “There is probably no other cocoa-free chocolate that is as delicious as Nocoa, is 100 percent natural and has a similarly low carbon footprint.” So, they have developed a concept of how to scale production quickly to large quantities and then offer attractive price points.

The ingredients also represent the philosophy of using regional ingredients to focus on the carbon footprint: These include sugar and oats. The focus is on replacing the raw material cocoa, which is often obtained under ecologically critical conditions, with a harmless and above all sustainable
alternative.

The declaration of the product will be challenging, as the term “chocolate” may not be used in variations either. Clarification has been initiated here, because legally the company does not want to show any weakness, which is also reflected in the fact that two patents have already been
applied for.