Cocoa/Chocolate

Traditionally Caramel Color has been used as a food color additive to impart a desired appearance to a vast range of foods and beverages. However, Caramel Color can do much more than just color finished products. When cocoa prices become expensive, Caramel Colors can serve as a major component in cost saving alternatives for cocoa powder. Sethness Products Company has worked with a number of food and baking companies using its full range of Powdered Caramel Colors to help reduce cocoa ingredient costs without compromising product quality.

Given the wide range of cocoa powders, there is no single solution to replacing cocoa using Powdered Caramel Color blends. The following considerations are important when deciding which Powdered Caramel Color to use.

COLOR

Cocoa powders can vary considerably in color tones and darkness. Fortunately Sethness offers the world's largest selection of Powdered Caramel Colors which can be used to match the appearance of cocoa powders, usually by blending with flour or maltodextrins. Sethness RT175, which is a light, red tone Powdered Caramel Color, has been used in blends to reduce the cocoa usage by as much as 40%. Similarly Sethness 858, which is the darkest Powdered Caramel Color available anywhere, can be used in blends to reduce the need for expensive alkalized (Dutched) cocoa powder by approximately 30%.

FLAVOR

Somewhat surprisingly, some Powdered Caramel Colors have flavor profiles similar to cocoa powder. Using a Gas Chromatograph/Mass Spectrophotometer, Sethness can demonstrate that some Powdered Caramel Colors and cocoa powders have quite similar flavor profiles. Usually we recommend cocoa users experiment with our RT175, BC420, or 858 Powdered Caramel Colors, depending on the type of cocoa they are trying to extend or replace.

Powdered Caramel Color can be used as an extender but not as a total replacement in cocoa applications. Some suggested formulas are as follows depending on whether you are using light cocoa powder, medium cocoa powder, or Dutch (dark) cocoa.

* Depending on the type of application the material used to complete the remaining formula could vary from flour to starch to maltodextrin, etc.