Venchi, the Italian chocolate and gelato manufacturer, has successfully introduced an exciting new addition to its range of sorbet made from cocoa fruit.
The vegan Venchi gelato is based on Koa Pure, a 100% natural cocoa fruit juice produced by the Swiss-Ghanaian startup Koa.
Venchi’s latest gelato product range adds to existing surprisingly refreshing Italian chocolate and gelato and has been launched in time for the summer.
“Venchi is the first gelateria to internationally offer this innovation which is currently available in Italy, England and Germany”, a Koa statement copied to Cocoa Post noted.
It continued, “thanks to the utilisation of the cocoa pulp which was so far lost cocoa smallholders increase their income and the cocoa sector is sustainably transformed.”
The ingredient for the new cocoa fruit sorbet is produced by the start-up Koa. The natural cocoa fruit juice “Koa Pure” offers the ideal basis for innovative applications with a sustainable vision.
Until now, save for a small part of the pulp used for cocoa bean fermentation the bulk of this important resource went unused due to a lack of technology infrastructure and technology.
Koa has found an innovative way to gently process the cocoa fruit in close cooperation with 1,600 smallholders.
“The utilisation of the cocoa pulp enables the smallholders to earn an additional income and at the same time creates jobs in rural Ghana,” Daniel Otu, Operations Director at Koa in Ghana, explains.
Cocoa fruit sorbet, shake and praline for Gelato fans
The Italian chocolate and gelato manufacturer Venchi has discovered this potential and recently presented its product innovation, the cocoa fruit sorbet.
Based on the sorbet, Venchi also offers a gelato shake and a gelato praline. The three creations are available in Italy, England and Germany at Venchi boutiques.
“I am really glad we found a partner which is located directly at the cocoa farms and perfectly preserves this precious nectar. Thanks to this collaboration, we can present a world premiere of our Italian gelato made with cocoa pulp to discover the delicate fruity and refreshing taste which I tried for the first time when I visited the cocoa rainforest,” observed Giovanni Battista Mantelli, Venchi director and innovation manager.
For Koa, the partnership is a milestone. “As young entrepreneurs, we’re particularly proud to cooperate with the traditional manufacturer and innovation leader Venchi for this new gelato,” Anian Schreiber, Co-Founder and Managing Director of Koa, highlights.
“Venchi’s launch clearly shows how versatile Koa Pure can be used and what potential the cocoa fruit has. The additional income benefits not only the cocoa farmers but also gelato fans with a wonderful summer-like taste and the conscience of doing something good,” he added.
By using the pulp, cocoa farmers can now benefit twice. Koa aims to partner with 80,000 smallholders by 2030 to sustainably transform cocoa farming.
- Illegal Mining Threatening Ghana’s $230M Cocoa Rehabilitation - April 10, 2024
- Ghana Raises Cocoa Farmgate Price by 58.26% to GHC2,070 per bag - April 5, 2024
- New Standard for Measuring Cocoa Household Income Launched - April 5, 2024