According to the consumer market research group Statista, Americans will end 2024 having consumed more than 8lb. chocolate per capita. The group further reports that, “revenue in the chocolate confectionery market amounts to US$133.6 billion” for the year and annual growth is expected to approach a healthy 4.76% CAGR until at least 2029. The US is responsible for a big chunk of that at US$23.21 billion for the year.

Dovetailing with this is the use of chocolate as an ingredient. A research report released last July by Fact.MR sees the global chocolate ingredient market hitting nearly US$ 17 billion. Interestingly, the report also found that, “cocoa ingredients are increasingly being used in pharmaceuticals to treat heart health and digestive issues.”

With this in mind, consumers have been expanding how they perceive chocolate and are open to more uncommon uses and combinations of flavors to get their chocolate fix. This has product developers taking advantage of the versatility of chocolate and using it in everything from the usual candies, pastries, and confections to more offbeat sweets and even savory products.

As well as the traditional inclusions such as caramel, marshmallow, nuts, and crispy cereals, other inclusions are cropping up in and on chocolate. “People like the classics,” notes Daniel Herskovic, owner and head chocolatier of the artisanal company Mayana Chocolate. Yet he notes that consumers also accept chocolate makers “adding a number of different things, two, three, four different things into a chocolate bar.”

Herskovic adds that “crunchy stuff…such as cereal is always a popular inclusion.” He also points to chewy dried fruits like cranberries and cherries as well as crunchy dried fruits such as bananas and pineapple appearing in chocolate confections.

Herskovic also has noted crunchy savory inclusions trending in chocolate products. He mentions potato chips, pretzels, and tortilla chips, and even cured dried meat products, such as bacon and jerky. Moreover, Herskovic sees increasing use of spices ranging from cardamom and chili pepper to curry spices in chocolate bars. These products bridge chocolate over to savory uses. According to Herskovic, we should expect to see increased use of cocoa and chocolate in such formulations as chili, stews, dry rubs, and sauces, with the latter already a precedent in such sources as Oaxacan molé.

Herskovic spoke to Prepared Foods Executive Editor-Technical David Feder about using the global favorite flavor in its traditional role as the king of candy and confections as well as its uses in savory and other uncommon formulations.