German startup Koa has launched three vitamin shots made from cacao fruit juice, valorising a key chocolate industry sidestream and providing additional income for farmers.
Koa, a Cologne-based startup upcycling waste from chocolate production, has unveiled a trio of juice shots made from cacao pulp.
The startup is looking to tackle the challenges brought by climate change and what it calls “outdated practices” within the industry, which have sent prices soaring to all-time highs – with no end in sight for now.
The new products, which it will showcase at the Anuga trade fair (October 4-8), are a range of vitamin shots utilising a largely wasted part of the cacao fruit. The aim is to reduce food waste and create a second income for the smallholder farmers it works with in Ghana.
Why Koa is targeting chocolate industry waste
Human-caused climate change has caused global cocoa stocks to slump to their lowest levels in a decade. Last year, it added six weeks of days above 32°C in over 70% of cacao-producing areas across several African countries, with extreme weather and crop diseases hitting plantations hardest in the Ivory Coast and Ghana, the two largest producers of the crop.
These two countries have lost over 85% of their forest cover since 1960. Scientists have additionally warned that cocoa trees are threatened, and a third of them could die out by 2050, which could lead to a global chocolate shortage.
Koa has previously suggested that some of the chief reasons Ghana’s farmers struggle to uphold their yields in the face of the climate crisis are poverty (about a quarter of its population lives below the poverty line) and a lack of training in sustainable agriculture.
Founded in 2017, it works closely with smallholders to reduce on-farm food waste, generate extra income, and bring new ingredients to the food industry.
Speaking of waste, an estimated 70% of the cacao fruit is thrown away during chocolate production, including the pulp (which makes up a quarter of the fruit) and the outer husk. According to Koa, the industry loses around five million tonnes of pulp alone annually. Valorising these byproducts helps increase outputs and income, and lower overall emissions.
Plus, cacao is a superfood that contains flavonoids and regulates blood pressure, prevents clots, and enhances blood flow to the brain and heart – so utilising the discarded parts contributes to healthier diets too.
“In a world full of things we cannot influence, it is rare to discover something with such a massive impact as the cocoa fruit. It is one of those simple things within our control that has the potential to change the world,” said Koa co-founder and CEO Anian Schreiber.
Koa’s cacao juice shots help farmers financially
Koa has been working with Ghanaian cocoa farmers to create a unique processing method that utilises also utilises the fruit pulp, which it describes as having a fresh, tropical flavour unlike chocolate. It’s a natural source of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
The Cocoa Fruit Shots come in three flavours: Koa Pure (the base cacao fruit flavour), Koa Boost (with ginger, tulsi, lemon and yuzu) and Koa Energize (with cold brew coffee, maca, chilli and lime).
The shots are vegan and have no added sugar, and each serving supplies the daily recommended intake of vitamin C. They’re available at retailers in Germany and on Koa’s website for €2.65 per 60ml bottle.
By making use of cacao pulp, Koa is creating an additional income for Ghana’s farmers, who now earn nearly twice as much of a premium as they do under the Fairtrade programme, and over six times more than the Rainforest Alliance, totalling €376 per extra tonne of cacao.
External studies have exhibited the model’s impact on cocoa farmers, 96% of whom say their lives have improved due to the additional revenue stream. Koa, which has raised $25M to date, also operates a cacao fruit factory in Akim Achiase in East Ghana, which generates income for 10,000 farmers.
The startup is working with ETH Zurich and Swiss chocolate manufacturer Felchlin to make a chocolate bar made completely from cacao fruit. The process involves mixing the outer shell with the pulp to form a sweet cocoa gel that can replace sugar, which is blended with a cocoa mass made from the beans.
Other companies innovating with the cacao fruit include Blue Stripes, Cabosse Naturals, CaPao, and Pacha de Cacao. Even Nestlé is looking to cut waste by creating a novel chocolate-making technique that uses up to 30% more of the cacao fruit.
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