Sustainable chocolate pioneers reshape the future of food as Bühler crowns top cocoa-free startups in its climate-driven innovation contest
The future of cocoa-free chocolate just took a major leap forward. Swiss manufacturing giant Bühler Group has announced the three winners of its New Chocolate Challenge, a global search for climate-resilient alternatives to traditional cocoa. After evaluating more than 50 applicants, Bühler awarded the top spots to Foreverland, Green Spot Technologies, and Kawa Project—three startups pushing the boundaries of sustainable chocolate innovation.
These rising companies collaborated closely with Bühler to turn their ingredients into full-fledged chocolate prototypes at the company’s world-class facility in Uzwil, Switzerland. Their creations were showcased last week at a tasting event in Chicago, revealing just how close cocoa-free chocolate is to entering the mainstream market.
Now, these innovators will continue working with Bühler to scale and commercialize their solutions—bringing the industry one step closer to a more resilient, eco-friendly future.
Why These Cocoa-Free Innovators Stood Out
The New Chocolate Challenge, launched in August, targeted three technological routes:
Plant-based and upcycled sidestreams that replicate chocolate’s flavor and texture
Biomass or precision fermentation to recreate key chocolate components
Cell-culture breakthroughs that use real cocoa cells without farming
By October, the top three startups had been selected to advance to full-scale industrial trials, using Bühler’s chocolate research center to test their ingredients on real production equipment. This allowed them to address vital questions—such as how novel inputs behave during manufacturing, whether existing cocoa-processing lines could be reused, and which modifications would be required for industrial rollout.
Three Startups Reshaping Sustainable Chocolate
Foreverland (Italy) is reviving and reimagining carob-based chocolate. Its hero ingredient, Choruba, uses fermented carob to create a cocoa-like flavor while reducing water use by 90% and emissions by 80% compared to conventional chocolate. With most of the world’s carob discarded as waste, Foreverland is turning an overlooked crop into a climate-smart solution.
Green Spot Technologies embraces upcycling too, fermenting food waste into functional ingredients. Its cocoa-free products come from fava bean fibers and grape skins, sold under the Milatea brand as powders, chocolate chips, and fillings. The company recently raised €5M to expand its sustainable ingredient platform.
Kawa Project transforms spent coffee grounds into a rich, cocoa-like powder. Its proprietary extraction and refining method produces a direct substitute for alkalized cocoa powder—ideal for baking and commercial applications. It’s a circular solution that turns a massive waste stream into a valuable ingredient.
Why Big Chocolate Is Going Cocoa-Free
This chocolate revolution comes during a global cocoa crisis. Cocoa prices have shattered records as climate change, extreme heat, and crop diseases devastate farms—especially in Ivory Coast and Ghana, which supply over 60% of the world’s cocoa. Scientists now warn that up to one-third of cocoa trees could disappear by 2050.
At the same time, chocolate production is deeply resource-intensive. Making a single bar requires 1,700 liters of water and generates more greenhouse gases than almost any food except beef.
These pressures are forcing major chocolate players to explore cocoa-free options. Companies like Hershey’s, Cargill, Nestlé, Mars, Barry Callebaut, and Puratos are all experimenting with alternative ingredients, precision fermentation, upcycling, and even CRISPR-edited cacao trees.
Bühler’s challenge brings these giants together with emerging innovators to accelerate meaningful change.
A New Era for Chocolate
“Cocoa price volatility is a wake-up call,” said Thierry Duvanel, innovation director at Bühler North America. “We’re mobilising the ecosystem to explore credible, scalable cocoa alternatives while leveraging existing assets wherever possible.”
With the winning startups now preparing for the next stage of development, the world may soon see sustainable chocolate options that are delicious, stable, and far less vulnerable to climate shocks.
Final Thoughts
As the world’s chocolate industry faces its biggest challenge yet, these cocoa-free innovators are proving that bold ideas and startup energy can reshape a global market. If you’re excited about the future of food innovation, follow, share, and drop a comment to keep the conversation going.
