Norderstedt, January 2011 - muesli, ice-cream or yoghurts - growing numbers of food manufacturers are adding chocolate pieces to enhance the appeal of their products. "At the moment there is enormous demand for ‘pebbles' or nuggets," reports Andreas Broocks, Factory Manager at HERZA Schokolade, a leading producer of small chocolate shapes for the food industry. "These chocolate chips vary in shape and size so that they appear to have been hand made. We originally created these products for the makers of muesli mixes. We are now also selling relatively large quantities to ice-cream producers." Because the nuggets are not only mixed into the ice-cream, but also used as decorations, the products are available with a shiny finish or a coating. But that is not all: "Right now, variations on the coating theme are a hot topic," says Andreas Broocks. "To encourage shoppers to keep buying their products, manufacturers are keen to make them look different - for example with pieces of chocolate covered in a gold or silver coating." Special effects can also be achieved with two-tone products. For example diamonds, where one side is made of light and the other side of dark chocolate.

Chocolate sticks and letters for special requirements

HERZA's normal business is to supply a wide range of small chocolate pieces in every shape and size imaginable. The portfolio ranges from standards such as shavings, ‘air cushions', flowers, matchsticks and leaves to ‘second-bite' chocolate pieces featuring, for example, coffee-flavoured brittle, biscuit or fruit chips, to melt-in-the-mouth nougat and truffle products, caramel, yoghurt and dairy confectionery pieces. New additions are chocolate sticks in varying lengths. These are between 10 and 15 mm wide and up to 38.5 cm long. "We have developed these sticks especially for the baking industry," says the professional. "The advantage is that the bakeries can break the chocolate to the length they require. For example, the baking-stable sticks can be inserted into croissants before they are baked."

To keep supplying customers with new shapes, the company develops its own machinery so that it can create innovative formats. And, as Andreas Broocks remarks, this helps the company meet customers' more unusual requirements. "There is hardly any limit to the forms we can produce. For example, we recently made numbers and letters for a children's muesli. We could imagine doing little animal shapes, or something similar. These chocolate pieces are ideal for muesli, ice-cream and as decoration for bakery mixes or frozen cakes and gateaux."

Sterile chocolate pieces promise to generate high added value

There is currently strong demand for sterile chocolate. A few months ago HERZA started a research product to develop sterile chocolate pieces for dairy products and fruit preparations. Here too, the focus is on producing many different shapes. "Our aim is to use appropriate processes and plant to produce sterile chocolate pieces of different shapes and sizes so that our customers find it easier to set their products apart from those of the competition," says Andreas Broocks. The uses for germ-free chocolate are by no means limited to dairy products and fruit preparations. There is huge potential in the fresh desserts sector, for example. The Factory Manager explains that, "chocolate pieces have not as yet been added to these products, but manufacturers are already looking for technical solutions."