Ruby Is the Newest Addition to the Chocolate Spectrum

Dark, milk, and white are the three main types of chocolate recognized by the Food and Drug Administration. But following an exciting new development from a Swiss chocolate maker, a fourth variety may soon be added to the lineup. As Bloomberg reports, the rosy-hued product, dubbed Ruby, is the first chocolate to come in a new, natural color since white chocolate debuted more than 80 years ago.

Ruby chocolate comes from Barry Callebaut, an international chocolate production company with headquarters in Zürich, Switzerland. The new breed of chocolate was the result of about a decade of development from researchers at Barry Callebaut and Jacobs University in Bremen, Germany. To make the chocolate, they used ruby cocoa beans, which grow in Ecuador, Brazil, and West Africa’s Ivory Coast. The final product “offers a totally new taste experience, which is not bitter, milky, or sweet, but a tension between berry-fruitiness and luscious smoothness,” according to a press release.

Along with its unique taste, the company hopes the chocolate will interest consumers with its alluring appearance. The CEO of Barry Callebaut, Antoine de Saint-Affrique, told Bloomberg that tests with international markets have been successful, even in China, where traditional chocolate is less mainstream than it is in the West.

Barry Callebaut revealed Ruby chocolate to the world at a launch event in Shanghai, China, on September 5. The company is now working on making it available to manufacturers and consumers, which means that any sweet item that comes in dark, milk, and white chocolate may soon come in red as well.