Over the last few months, you may have noticed that the price of chocolate has risen dramatically, potentially influencing your choices when it comes to making those crucial flavour decisions for your cabinet.
The reason for this can be traced back to April, when there was a hugely significant global supply shortage; and when we say huge, there has been a whopping 11% less cocoa harvested than the previous year.
But why has this happened?
Well, the blame has mostly been placed on climate change, alongside the rising costs of cocoa farming and the lack of financial support for said farmers. Ultimately, this means that the chocolate market is at breaking point.
Where has the rest of the chocolate gone?
You may have found it more difficult to source your chocolate supply at its typical price in recent months as huge brands (who I will not name) have been buying the bulk of the cocoa supply; meaning that the smaller and medium sized businesses have been scrapping for the best deals.
Whilst it is projected that the price of chocolate will drop slightly in the future, it looks highly unlikely that it will return to previous pricing levels. So, when it comes to chocolate ice cream, how is the industry as a whole impacted by increased pricing?
The impact on the ice cream industry
The majority of chocolate ice cream recipes will usually contain around 10% chocolate. Therefore, if 10% of your product is increasing in cost by three times its typical price, then unfortunately we are likely to see a huge difference in the cost of our ice cream.
Ultimately this means that what was once a cost-effective, relatively simple but, above all, highly popular flavour now has a real impact on our profit margins.
But, of course, whilst chocolate ice cream may not look as ‘nice’ on our profit margins as it had previously, its popularity has not lessened; therefore, as an industry, we must find a solution to ensure this can remain staple in our cabinet, whilst keeping it profitable.
Alternative solutions
When we look at our chocolate ice cream recipe and the 10% of chocolate that goes into this, we would usually find that this is made up of around 60-70% chocolate buttons or pieces, with the other 20-30% from cocoa powder.
Why do we use these two ingredients? Well, we opt for chocolate pieces to achieve the body, texture and mouth feel, whilst the cocoa powder is used for depth of flavour, as well as sharpness (with a hint of bitterness) on the palette.
So how can we alter these ingredients to reduce or absorb our additional costs?
Reducing chocolate pieces
Well, first and foremost, whilst the chocolate buttons that we use contain a lot less flavour intensity than our cocoa powder, they carry a whopping 130% extra cost in comparison to the powder. Of course, as the majority of chocolate in our recipes comes from these pieces, we can see precisely where most of our cost comes from.
The answer to our cost issues could, therefore, be as simple as reducing the amount of chocolate pieces we use and replacing this with cocoa powder, thereby decreasing a large chunk of our costs.
Adding cream
The downside to this, however, will be a marked increase in the intensity, sharpness and bitterness of our flavour. We can combat this by replacing some of the powder with double cream, which will create that much sought after milky aroma whilst still giving that full body texture that we look for in our chocolate pieces.
Fat alternatives
If you don’t want to use double cream in your recipe, we can also look to alternative fats within our recipe, such as vegetable fats.
Turning up the heat
If we’re replacing a proportion of chocolate pieces with cocoa powder, we can also utilise heat to achieve that further depth of flavour. This can be achieved through pasteurising your mix or cooking it on the hob.
Remove chocolate pieces entirely
If you really want to make cost savings, you could create a recipe dedicated entirely to chocolate powder.
Pastes
Chocolate pastes are another great way to achieve that iconic chocolate flavour without breaking the bank. These are typically a blend of powder and pieces, and there are countless manufacturers out there with some fantastic products.
But don’t forget…
When looking to incorporate any of the above into your recipe it is crucial to remember that in adjusting your chocolate content, this will mean a dramatic change in solids, making it more or less scoopable. This means that alongside balancing your chocolate, you must also rebalance your sugars and other solids.
As always, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to contact the Antonelli team for recipe ideas and tips.