Today the researchers can let their imagination

Academe to fans of "Charlie and the chocolate factory", the largest chocolate manufacturing plant is not in Britain, but in Belgium, in the Flemish village of Wieze. Each year, 250,000 tonnes of liquid chocolate there are made from beans grown in the four corners of the world, arriving there by truckloads or of large burlap bags. During the periods preceding Christmas and Easter, about 60 loaded tanker nearly 1 million kilos of chocolate leave every day site. This is decades that this factory of the Group Barry Callebaut book manufacturers of truffles, the brands of tablets, the biscuitiers and flavored cereal producers. The Kellogg's, Nestle, Hershey's, Godiva and other Leonidas are all clients of this multinational corporation based in Switzerland, whose turnover exceeds EUR 3.2 billion.

However, a nothing outdated decor of this chocolate is misleading. Because it is in its laboratories that are developed revenue "chocolates from the future". The group, born in 1996 from the merger of French Cacao Barry and Callebaut Belgian, invested heavily in innovation. One-third of the 1,700 recipes which are manufactured in 40 plants of the world's leading invented these past three years. And the plant has since December 2005 of a position of Director of innovation, by Hans Vriens, which has long worked in March before launching the energy drink Red Bull in 28 countries. "In the past, these are our customers asking us to develop new products, he says." But for two years, it is we who propose new formulas. It is a major strategic transfer...

New products

"Our industry has ceased to be conservative," adds Herwig Bernaert, a head of R & D to Wiese. We've long done manufacture of black, white and milk chocolate... "Today, the researchers can let their imagination. "We are expanding our laboratories because we do more research," noted Wout Clicteur, the Director of the quality of the plant. Barry Callebaut is is not the only chocolatier to capitalize heavily in R & d. Nestlé has recently suit by opening a centre of excellence in its Swiss factory in Broc, Swiss cheese ("Les Echos" of October 8, 2009), where scientists alongside sociologists or anthropologists. This innovation race is explained. "People are more likely to experiment with new products, says Wout Clicteur. The chocolate industry has always recorded margins, and launch new products can be more cost-effective. Some innovations finally allow us to enter new markets. "The development of new machines in factories to produce new references. "We are now able to eliminate water from fruit juices, and we mix the powder with white chocolate to produce a very refreshing drink, boasts Hans Vriens." We are also looking to make more soluble cocoa powder. Today, chocolate beverages are all available in opaque containers because after an hour in rays, the chocolate is located at the bottom of the bottle. By improving the solubility of chocolate, brands can offer innovative products, for example of capsules for machines to coffee. "Another example of novelty, the Mycryo, fat from the cocoa powder to make perfect well juicy grills. It is already used by several restaurants, including the Chief of the Ritz, in Paris. Beyond the new products, an entire team has only one mission is to improve the chocolate manufacturing processes to reduce costs. "One of our main goals is to allow our customers to protect their profit margins," summarizes Jürgen Steinemann, the new CEO of Barry Callebaut.

Change the image

But the Swiss group researchers have another purpose: change the image of the cocoa-based products. "Everyone feels guilty to buy chocolate, analysis Hans Vriens.". If you manage to make this more acceptable product, people consume more. The brands of the sector use this stuff for years. Ferrero sells its Kinder by saying that they contain a lot of milk. And Cadbury repeat since nearly a hundred years that his shelves represent the equivalent of two glasses of milk.

Barry Callebaut is today able to produce chocolate without sugar, and one of its recipes contains 30 of fat in less than a regular tablet. "Health has become a trend very fashionable is called to last," summarizes the pattern of this multinational of 7,000 employees whose turnover exceeds EUR 3.2 billion. At the time, the leaders of the Group mounting the scientific arguments for extol the benefits of their products. "The medicinal qualities of cocoa are known for a long time, justified Hans Vriens.". The Maya ate raw cocoa beans to take advantage of their benefits on metabolism.

Positive effects on health

About 230 natural molecules present in these seeds would have positive effects on the health. For example, cocoa is replete with probiotics, these microorganisms that are added to some foods, such as yoghurt, with the objective of stimulating the immune system. The Swiss group also markets of flavanol-containing products, an antioxidant, present in the cocoa bean, who was previously destroyed during the process for the manufacture of chocolate. "We also seek to preserve the phenylethylamine, a substance which is produced in large quantities by the brain when we fall in love," adds Hans Vriens. Some components present in the cocoa bean could seduce the brands of cosmetics.

However, scientists must take care not to go too far in their research. "Innovation must be before any saleable, slice the former framework of March. One of our mistakes was to market a chocolate for the regime. This idea was doomed to failure, because the first thing that a person seeking to lose weight is not to eat chocolate. "This type of incident of route however has cooled the leadership of Barry Callebaut. Quite the contrary. "You'll see more and more cocoa-based products in the future," concludes Herwig Bernaert. The inhabitants of Wieze have not finished lungs breathe sweet, sweet chocolate flavor.